If you’re a Boston Celtics fan searching for optimism amid a depressing offseason, allow us to direct you to the 2025 EuroBasket tournament in Riga, Latvia.
That’s where Celtics big man Neemias Queta took the court for his native Portugal against Czechia early Wednesday morning — and put on an absolute show.
Queta racked up a game-high 23 points on 11 of 15 shooting along with 18 rebounds, four blocks and two steals to power Portugal to a 62-50 win, the country’s first in EuroBasket competition since 2007.
Queta was an force on both ends, scoring at will in the paint and dominating on the glass to become the first player with at least 20 points and 15 rebounds in his EuroBasket debut since FIBA began tracking rebounding numbers.
But the most notable moment from Queta’s performance came at the very beginning, when the 7-foot big man buried a 3-pointer to open the scoring for Portugal.
For context, Queta has yet to attempt a 3-pointer over four NBA seasons. Yet there he was on Portugal’s opening possession, spacing the floor and knocking down a deep ball.
Lest the hype train go off the rails, Queta only attempted that one 3-pointer in Wednesday’s game, so we’ll need to see a bigger sample size. But there’s little doubt that Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla would be thrilled if Queta developed a 3-point shot.
While the C’s just smashed the NBA record for 3-pointers made in a season, they lost two sharpshooting big men this offseason in Kristaps Porzingis (trade) and Al Horford (likely leaving in free agency). Even if Queta can make the occasional 3-pointer for Boston this season, that could help open up a Celtics offense that will need to rely more on spacing and ball movement with superstar Jayson Tatum sidelined to due to injury.
Czechia is not a very talented opponent, so it’s worth monitoring how Queta fares against the likes of Nikola Jokic (Serbia), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece), Alperen Sengun (Turkey) and Porzingis, who is playing for Team Latvia. But Queta’s debut Wednesday morning certainly was an encouraging sign.
Portgual’s next EuroBasket game is against Jokic and Serbia on Friday at 2:15 p.m. ET.
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