Opportunity is knocking for Neemias Queta this season with the Boston Celtics and he looks ready to take advantage of it. The Portuguese center made his EuroBasket debut on Wednesday and put together a dominant effort to give Portugal their first EuroBasket victory since 2007 in a 62-50 win over Czech Republic.
Queta led all players in both points (23) and rebounds (18) in the win, putting together an efficient performance on both ends of the floor to help Portugal win their opening game of the group stage. Queta scored Portugal’s first seven points of the game and went on to go 11-of-15 from the field, including the first 3-point make of his pro career on the opening possession of the game.
The big man was also a force on the defensive end, blocking four shots and tallying two steals. He committed just two fouls in his 30 minutes of action and was a plus-21 in the 12-point victory.
The Czech Republic did not have any NBA-level big man talent to slow down Queta, but they did have an NBA player in Hawks forward Vit Krejci, who struggled (10 points on 2-of-8 shooting) on the other side. Meanwhile, Queta looked a cut above the competition on the court, as his 18 rebounds tied for seventh all-time for most in a single game during EuroBasket.
The road now gets much tougher for Queta and Portugal in Group A as they face off against talented front courts this weekend including Serbia (Nikola Jokic), Turkey (Alperen Seguin), and Latvia (Kristaps Porzingis) in their next three games beginning Friday afternoon. Four teams advance out of the group to the knockout round so pulling off an upset in one of those matchups should help Portugal advance. Queta will be put to the test in those matchups as he tries to hang tough with those top big man talents with an inferior supporting cast. Wednesday’s performance may have been a sign that Queta is up to the task in his prelude to a crucial season in Boston.
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