PHOENIX – Upon learning that Neemias Queta had recorded back-to-back double-doubles for the first time in his career — finishing with 14 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, and two blocks — Joe Mazzulla looked down at the box score laid out in front of him.
“Oh, really?” he said, nodding his head in approval.
There are two reasons that note could come as a surprise.
The first is how far Queta has come, developing into a legitimate, impactful starting center this season. The other — and likely the case for Mazzulla, who has believed in Queta since the Boston Celtics signed him to a two-way deal in September 2023 — is that it feels like it should have happened already, given the level of consistency he has played with all year.
“That's the word, ‘consistency.’ He cares about the details. He wants to get better. He understands what he has to do to be able to help us win games, and he takes pride in that. Congratulations to that,” Mazzulla said. “That's just a sign of the consistency he is playing with. I think that's the growth of a guy – you can earn being counted every night, and he's earned that. We know heading into every game that we can count on him. So it’s a credit to him.”
That reliability has quietly become one of the pillars of Boston’s season.
At 38-19, with a two-game cushion over New York and Cleveland for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, Boston’s rise has been built on steady growth across the roster. Queta’s development has been a major part of that foundation.
The 26-year-old spent his first two seasons in Boston as the fourth center behind Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, and Luke Kornet. This season, he has flourished, earning the trust of his coaches and teammates and solidifying himself as a dependable presence in the starting lineup.
“He's been amazing, on both sides of the ball. Just always seems to be in the right place and is creating second chances for us, and then, defensively, he protects the paint for us and does a lot of different things for us,” Derrick White said. “So it's great to see him do it night in and night out. We expect that from him every day, and he shows up, and he brings it.”
Queta has started 53 of the 54 games he’s played, averaging 9.8 points on a team-best 63.8% shooting, along with a team-high 8.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.3 blocks. His 10 double-doubles trail only Jaylen Brown’s 11 on the roster. Before this season, he had just two in his entire NBA career.
The Portuguese big man has been everything Boston could have asked for and more.
He has helped erase early-season rebounding concerns with a team-best 29.9% defensive rebounding rate, meaning he grabs nearly 30% of opponent misses, along with a 47.8% offensive rebounding rate. He has also provided a steady presence at the rim, where opponents are shooting 10.9% worse when he is the primary defender. He is one of just 14 players in the NBA with at least 70 blocks.
Offensively, Queta has provided vertical spacing, ranking tied for 13th in total dunks (89), while also becoming one of the league’s most effective screeners. His 202 total screen assists (any screen that directly leads to a basket by the player who received the screen) rank second in the NBA behind only Rudy Gobert (240) and lead to 9.1 points per game, the third-most in the league.
He has helped create easy offense in the pick-and-roll and generated second-chance opportunities with putbacks.
“He’s been great for us,” Sam Hauser said. “Obviously, as the season has gone on, he's gotten better and better. Shot blocking, playmaking, passing, rebounding, and just holding it down in the lane for us. It’s been awesome.”
The impact has been undeniable. Queta’s +316 plus-minus ranks second on the team, behind only Derrick White (+433). Among players with at least 45 games, his +12.3 net rating ranks fifth in the NBA, and his 105.1 defensive rating ranks sixth.
For a player who once fought for rotation minutes, the leap has been dramatic. One that should put him squarely in the Most Improved Player conversation.
But as his first postseason as a starting NBA center approaches, Queta isn’t pausing to admire the climb and the opportunity he has capitalized on.
“I feel like I'm taking strides in so many different aspects of my game, and there's so much more I can get better at. I don't want to, like, pinpoint just one thing. I feel like it would be a disservice to all the stuff I’m getting better at," Queta said. "I’m still hungry. I still want to keep on getting better, and when the season is over, we can make all the assessments and all that. But until then, live in the moment, trying to help the team win, and we go from there.”
Back-to-back double-doubles may be new. Being counted on every night is not. That consistency will be critical as the Celtics enter the final stretch of the regular season.
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