Neemias Queta dominated in his long-awaited return to international play for Portugal, who defeated the Czech Republic on Wednesday in Latvia to open their first EuroBasket appearance since 2011. Queta scored 23 points in 30 minutes, grabbed 18 rebounds and blocked four shots while deterring many more. Portugal won his minutes by 21 points in their 12-point victory.
The win proved an upset over 19th-ranked Czechia (Portugal is 56th in FIBA), important tone-setter before difficult matchups this weekend and a chance for Queta to flash his health and expanded game. Queta knocked down a three-pointer to open the first quarter, hit a fake dribble handoff into a pull-up elbow jumper before halftime and overwhelmed the Czech Republic defensively with chase down blocks and his half court drop. Pick-and-roll finishes, a more likely staple for the big man in Boston this year, led to most of his finishes inside.
Queta spent the early part of the offseason recovering from a clean-up knee surgery following the Celtics’ season. In his ramp-up last month, he geared his workouts toward playing primary role for Portugal that would require more scoring, facilitation and a greater focus on beating his matchup one-on-one. He told CLNS Media last month that he hoped to knock down open threes like his lone attempt on Thursday, though it’s less likely Queta’s shooting turnaround jump shots like the one he flashed during exhibition play earlier this month.
“I think I gotta be one of the most vocal guys on the court,” Queta told CLNS about his EuroBasket role. “I gotta make sure I can keep up with the scoring and being able to do multiple things on the floor, show a little bit of versatility and just be the best version of myself.”
The workload Queta assumed became another positive from the opener, as he fell awkwardly into a split during a game against Spain’s B team. He left that game and did not return, then played limited minutes in Portugal’s remaining exhibitions following the lower body injury. His positive response to increasing that workload became as encouraging as any of his many highlight plays that occurred throughout.
Portugal will now play three games in four days after an off day on Thursday. On Friday and Saturday at 2:15 EST, Queta matches up with Nikola Jokić and Serbia, and Alperen Şengün and Turkey, respectively. Serbia beat Estonia, the sixth team in Group A, by 34 on Thursday. Turkey dominated Kristaps Porziņģis, who struggled in his EuroBasket opener, and Latvia. Queta will face his former Celtic teammate on Monday.
There’s now at least a chance Portugal could advance from its group. The top-four teams from each advance, which last happened for Portugal in 2007. The national team hadn’t won a EuroBasket game since. Until Wednesday. Queta, teammates and fans in Portugal hoped this team, the first fully represented by Queta’s generation, would showcase the advancement of basketball in the country inspired in part by the Celtics’ star. They’ve already done that by defeating Spain in exhibition play for the first time in history, winning all but one of the four that followed, then putting themselves in an advantageous position in the group play opener.
“We know that we go there as underdogs,” Queta’s long-time teammate and friend Rafael Lisboa told CLNS last month. “But our belief as a group is to try to pass the first phase and advance to the second round, so I think we have a team for that and we go there to try to fight for our country.”
