BOSTON — Neemias Queta will miss the Celtics’ game on Wednesday against the Pistons, winners of 13 straight games, after he suffered a left ankle sprain in the first quarter of their loss to the Magic on Sunday. The loss will open the starting center role for the first time this season.
Queta became an impactful mainstay at the position while every night through Boston’s 9-8 start. Luka Garza, Xavier Tillman Sr., Chris Boucher and wing Josh Minott stand in line to earn opportunities at center. Garza and Tillman did not play against Orlando, Boucher scored one point with one rebound, one assist, one steal and two blocks in 14 minutes without a shot attempt. Minott and later Jordan Walsh closed the game in small-ball lineups against a Magic team missing multiple centers.
Through 23.6 minutes per game as Boston’s starter, Queta averaged 9.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.4 blocks per game 62.8% shooting. He tied for 24th in the NBA in Basketball Reference’s defensive rating (111) and led the Celtics by more than 4.0 points per 100 possessions (100.6) in the NBA’s calculation. Only Alex Caruso, Ajay Mitchell and Chet Holmgren ranked better among regular contributors this season.
This month, Queta logged a career-best all around night against Washington (15 pts, 12 reb, 5 ast) and averaged 10.6 PPG, 9.0 RPG and 1.5 BPG in eight games leading up to his injury on Sunday. Joe Mazzulla, who did not provide a long-term outlook for the injury at practice on Tuesday, described his impact on the team pre-game on Sunday.
“I think our defense is pretty good in general to start with,” Mazzulla said, asked about Queta’s defensive rating. “But I think he’s also really improved, especially in his rim protection and his pick-and-roll defense, and he’s done a great job understanding his matchup every single night, understanding the schemes, the offensive system and how we need to be. So he’s really grown in that area, it’s a credit to him and obviously the guys around him who compete defensively as well.”
Lineups with Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Jaylen Brown and Queta, the Celtics’ starting four throughout the schedule with a revolving door at the fifth spot, posted a 120.6 offensive rating, 102.5 defensive rating, both of which would rank top-three among team ratings, amounting to a +18.1 net rating in 231 minutes.
Garza primarily filled the backup role, with the Celtics yielding 121.3 points per 100 possessions in his minutes alone at center for a -7.5 net rating. Tillman, who played only 58 minutes at center so far, saw his lineups lose by 22.1 points per 100 possessions. Boston may start Boucher, who posted an intriguing +16.9 net rating through his first 51 minutes at center, or could return to Minott, whose center minutes produced a 138.9 offensive rating (-0.5) net through 55 minutes.
“We don’t really have a guy to replace what (Queta) does for us,” White said at practice on Tuesday. “And so it’s gotta be a group effort, obviously X, Luka, Chris, they’re gonna get a bigger chance and we’re gonna need a lot from them, but it’s also on us. We don’t have (Queta) there to take out some of the mistakes that we make on the perimeter. It’s gonna be a team effort, rebounding and everything. Hopefully he comes back as quickly as possible, but we all gotta step up.”
Mazzulla did not reveal whether Queta went through any part of practice on Tuesday. He appeared briefly in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, walking casually toward the weight room with no visible limp. After the injury, he leaped to the bench, but walked to the locker room on his own power. A low-grade ankle sprain could take between 1-3 weeks to fully recover from.
His absence comes at a bad time against the surging Pistons, who boast one of the league’s more imposing rebound duos between Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart. Detroit grabbed 19 offensive rebounds in an Oct. 26 win against the Celtics at home. Queta fouled five times and grabbed six boards in 26 minutes, though Garza closed over him while Boston allowed five offensive rebounds in the final three minutes that powered a 10-7 closing run by the Pistons, who won 119-113. The Celtics then travel to Minnesota and Cleveland this weekend, where they face Julius Randle, Rudy Gobert, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen on a back-to-back.
The Celtics fared well injury-wise aside from Jayson Tatum until Sunday, losing only one game for health reasons when Garza entered concussion protocol last month. Boston activated two-way center Amari Williams as a 13th player for Wednesday’s game. Williams, the No. 46 overall pick in June, averaged 12.7 PPG, 10.9 RPG and 4.4 APG on 64.2% FG through the Maine Celtics’ first seven games in the G-League.
“Obviously, Queta provides a lot of shot-blocking,” Sam Hauser said on Tuesday. “Without his presence down there, we’re gonna have to make up for it in other ways, being aggressive, keeping guys out of the paint, rebounding really well collectively and just trying to be play-makers on defense. His spirit was good today. I actually haven’t asked him how he’s feeling, but he looked like he was doing alright today and his spirits were in a good place, so it’s good to see.”
