In a season where consistency has been hard to come by and Boston’s rotations have felt more like a game of musical chairs, Neemias Queta is quietly making a strong case for himself - not just as a stopgap, but as a legitimate piece of the Celtics’ puzzle.
“Neemy was the best version of himself,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said postgame. And while Queta’s stat line - 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting - might not leap off the page, his impact was undeniable.
You felt him on the floor. You noticed the rebounds, the rim protection, the physical presence.
On a night when Boston was short-handed, playing the second leg of a back-to-back, and facing a surging Rockets team that had embarrassed them by 27 back in November, Queta stepped up.
With Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser, and Anfernee Simons sidelined - Simons still unofficially part of the Nikola Vučević trade - Boston turned to a double-big starting lineup featuring Queta and Luka Garza. It was Queta’s 47th start of the season, and arguably one of his most complete performances yet.
Let’s be clear: this wasn’t a game Boston was supposed to win. They were depleted, tired, and throwing rookie Ron Harper Jr. into the fire for his first career start - and his assignment?
Guard Kevin Durant. That’s a welcome-to-the-league moment if there ever was one.
Payton Pritchard stayed in his sixth-man role to stabilize the bench, and the Celtics needed someone - anyone - to anchor the middle.
Queta answered that call. He delivered his eighth double-double of the season: 10 points, 19 rebounds (12 on the defensive end - a career high), and five blocks.
That’s production with purpose. That’s a player who understands his role and executes it with precision.
“It’s mostly positioning - getting there early, wedging guys under the rim, and going to get rebounds with two hands,” Queta explained after the game. “That’s an emphasis for me. I’m trying to go get it with two hands at the highest speed.”
This is the kind of dirty work that doesn’t always show up in highlight reels but wins games. And in a system like Mazzulla’s, where ball movement and spacing are king, Queta’s traditional big-man skill set has found a home.
He’s not stretching the floor like Vučević or Horford. He’s not a pick-and-pop threat like Porziņģis.
But he’s setting hard screens, moving well around the elbow, and creating space for Boston’s perimeter scorers to operate. His value lies in the way he keeps the offense flowing - even when he doesn’t touch the ball.
And when he does touch it? He makes it count.
What makes Queta’s rise even more impressive is how quickly he’s adapted to the spotlight. After Boston moved on from Porziņģis, Horford, and Luke Kornet in the offseason, the center position was supposed to be a question mark.
Instead, Queta has turned it into a strength. He’s not just holding the line - he’s pushing it forward.
His performance against Houston was a reminder of that. It wasn’t just the stats, though they were impressive.
It was the energy, the timing, the toughness. Like when he collided with Tari Eason in the fourth quarter, went flying into the stands - reportedly up to the 14th row - and still hustled back on defense to contest a fast break.
“Eason and I got tangled up, and I lost my balance, which threw me all the way up to like the 14th row,” Queta said with a smile. “I champed it up with a fan on the way.”
The locker room loved it. Derrick White couldn’t stop laughing.
“That was hilarious,” White said. “I was just watching him keep going up and up, and I’m like, ‘Just stop.’
But he was big-time for us tonight - protecting the paint, rebounding. He did a lot of great things for us.”
And that’s the thing - Queta keeps doing a lot of great things. He may not be the flashiest name on the roster, but he’s been dependable, smart, and tough - the kind of big who doesn’t need plays drawn up for him to make a difference.
Now, with Vučević’s arrival looming, the question becomes how Boston balances its frontcourt. Vučević brings veteran experience and shooting range - a career 35.1% from deep, with 4.5 attempts per game this season in Chicago.
But he’s also 35 years old and more suited to last year’s version of the Celtics. Queta, meanwhile, is younger, more mobile, and in sync with what Boston is trying to build right now.
To his credit, Queta isn’t sweating the potential shift.
“I don’t think it’s that big of an adjustment,” he said of the double-big lineup. “A lot of the guys who’ve been here the last couple of years - that’s what we’ve been running. So it’s more about getting used to it, figuring out how to maximize each of the new players, and that chemistry.”
That kind of mindset - team-first, adaptable, and focused on the bigger picture - is exactly what you want from a starting center on a contending team. And right now, Queta is proving he belongs in that conversation.
He’s not just filling a role. He’s owning it.