BOSTON — Neemias Queta rolled, raced in transition and flexed to the crowd on his career night. On most of the plays that amounted to Queta’s 27 points, 17 rebounds and three blocks, a staggering sum that marked only the 17th time in Celtics history a player amassed that line, Andre Drummond fell on the opposite end with Joel Embiid injured. Yet as teammates embraced Queta following the 114-98 Celtics win, Drummond and Queta embraced.
“They made the right plays by giving him the ball and he did what he was supposed to do by finishing shots,” Drummond said. “He was around the rim, getting offensive rebounds, and I tried to block him out. Those weird bounces would just fall in his hands, or it’d be tipped to him somehow, someway, nothing he did to … he played hard. I’m not even gonna say that. He played great. He had a great game. He played well. I think it was a career night for him, it shouldn’t have happened against me, but whatever. It is what it is. He had a good game. I told him after the game, I said, ‘build on this. Use this as momentum and build on it. You should feel good about yourself. It was a great game. You played well. Do it again.'”
While sounding disdainful in the moment, especially following Queta’s 11th double-double and 28th time scoring double-figures this season, Drummond revealed that Queta previously sought advice from him. Their relationship began early last season when Queta logged eight minutes on Christmas against Drummond and the Sixers as Boston’s fourth string center. Queta watched Drummond while he starred on the Pistons from 2012-19, while Queta worked toward earning an Utah State scholarship in Portugal. He saw Drummond as a similar player who he could emulate.
Drummond obliged their conversations and remembered Queta returning through ensuing matchups for pointers. Drummond focused on rebounding, ranking 29th all-time in total boards after recently passing Pau Gasol. That became Queta’s strength in spot opportunities last season before he improved his touch, defensive positioning and screening enough to earn Boston’s starting job when the Celtics moved on from Kristaps Porziņģis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet last summer.
“He would just ask about rebounding advice, what’d I do? How do I see it? For me, it’s always about positioning and knowing your guys,” Drummond told CLNS Media. “I told him what I do is after practice, I’ll sit down and watch my guys shoot, and see what type of misses they have and that’s how I became one of the best rebounders.”
Joe Mazzulla also withheld showering Queta in praise after his latest and largest breakout, focusing on the big man continuing to get better and even keying in on his need to keep blocked shots in-bounds. The crowd did not, standing in ovation during a second quarter stretch where Queta scored eight straight Celtics points in less than two minutes by sprinting to the rim and crashing the offensive glass. The run pushed Boston’s lead from two points to five and forced a Philadelphia timeout.
Queta is now averaging 10.1 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game while playing on a minimum contract only two years after joining the Celtics on a two-way contract as a Sacramento Kings cut before training camp. Only Victor Wembanyama, Evan Mobley, Chet Holmgren, Donovan Clingan and Rudy Gobert have posted those averages among NBA players with 46+ games played this season. Only Gobert and Holmgren have more than Queta’s 6.4 win shares and Queta ranks 13th among players averaging 15+ minutes per night with a +12.5 net rating.
Mazzulla revealed after Sunday’s win that he told Queta during the offseason that he would become the Celtics’ starting center following offseason changes so he could physically and mentally prepare for the role. The shoes he stepped into, expectations for consistency and the overall demands of the position, especially within the Celtics’ shape-shifting defense, made for an almost impossible acclimation following two seasons where he played sparingly. He had surpassed 30 minutes in a game once prior to this season. Two seasons of development, a summer knee procedure, offseason workouts and a Team Portugal run in EuroBasket prepared him to thrive in the role. Along with a few conversations with Drummond.
“Big fella has a pretty similar game,” Queta said. “When he used to be with Detroit, I used to watch a lot of him, so it’s just trying to figure out how I can get better. Obviously, we’re competing on the court and stuff like that, but I’m just learning. Every time I can get somebody’s advice on how I can get better, I’m just trying to do that so I can improve. He’s been always on my side on that type of stuff. Everything he sees, he just wants to help me out. So I appreciate him for that.”
