Neemias Queta made an emphatic first impression Wednesday in his EuroBasket debut.
The Celtics center racked up 23 points, 18 rebounds, four blocks and two steals to power his native Portugal to a 62-50 win over Czechia in Europe’s quadrennial international basketball tournament. It was Portugal’s first EuroBasket victory since 2007.
Queta was a plus-21 in his 31 minutes, shooting 11-for-15 from the field. Most of those buckets were at or near the rim — where the 7-footer does most of his work for Boston — but he also opened the scoring by drilling a straightaway 3-pointer.
Neemias Queta, welcome to the #EuroBasket! 🔥
📺 https://t.co/O8gpIsQl2R pic.twitter.com/9WfqQ9xSF7
— FIBA EuroBasket (@EuroBasket) August 27, 2025
That’s something Queta has never done for the Celtics. In his four NBA seasons, the 26-year-old has attempted just three threes and made zero.
The Celtics also have never crafted a game plan around Queta the way Portugal did — unsurprising considering he’s both the only Portuguese player ever to win an NBA championship and the only current or former NBAer on its EuroBasket roster. Despite his monster stat line, teammate Travante Williams said Portugal should have done even more to get Queta involved.
“I know he had like 23 (points), but we still didn’t give him the ball enough,” Williams said, via FIBA’s game recap. “I think if we were to give him the ball like six more possessions, he’d have 37 points or something. He’s a big-time player, EuroBasket is the perfect place for him to show his talent and sometimes it doesn’t get recognized in the NBA. But he’s playing great. That’s our guy. We want to go through him.”
An important caveat when evaluating Queta’s big day is that Czechia also boasts just one player with NBA experience: Atlanta Hawks reserve guard Vit Krejci. Queta will face much tougher competition as the group stage progresses, beginning Friday against a stacked Serbian squad led by three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic.
After that, he’ll match up against Houston Rockets All-Star big man Alperen Sengun and Turkey on Saturday, then meet former Celtics teammate Kristaps Porzingis and Latvia next Monday.
The Celtics will be hoping Queta can hold his own against those talented NBA bigs — because they’ll need him to this season. The offseason departures of Porzingis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet rocketed Queta from fourth to first on the depth chart, setting him up for what should be the largest workload of his pro career to date.
Last season, he appeared in 63 games with six starts; averaged 12.9 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per 36 minutes; and was not part of head coach Joe Mazzulla’s playoff rotation.
A leap in production and consistency from Queta would provide a major boost to a Boston frontcourt that currently looks like one of the NBA’s weakest. Veteran newcomers Luka Garza and Chris Boucher, second-round draft pick Amari Williams and seldom-used holdover Xavier Tillman also will compete for minutes when training camp begins next month.
“That group will not be the group that people will single out based on paper, on what they’ve done with their careers thus far, as our strongest position,” Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens told reporters in July. “But it’s up to them to prove it otherwise.”
Originally Published: August 27, 2025 at 11:35 AM EDT