Former Aggie Neemias Queta Played Crucial Role In Win Vs Denver

BOSTON, Massachusetts- Former Utah State Aggie Neemias Queta is having his most productive season in the NBA in his second year with the Boston Celtics. After providing spot minutes for Boston during their championship campaign, Queta is looking to help the Celtics repeat in his heightened role.

Neemias has already appeared in 47 games this season, including yesterday morning where he matched a season-high in rebounds with 10, making his presence and impact felt in the Celtics’ 110-103 win over the Denver Nuggets.

NEEMI TIME 🚨 pic.twitter.com/XmmFgBvRbg

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 2, 2025

Neemias Queta finished the game with 10 rebounds, three on the offensive glass, and eight points, which were critical in a win by the same margin. The cherry on top of the performance was the efficiency of the output. Queta only logged 17 minutes and was 4-5 from the field.

Shout-out to Neemias Queta ☘️

Solid contribution off the bench for the Celtics against the Nuggets with 8 points (4-5 FG) to go with 10 rebounds (3 offensive): pic.twitter.com/4tviRBa2DM

— Tomek Kordylewski (@Timi_093) March 3, 2025

The solid showing from Neemias is a representation of the hard work he has put in over the last two seasons, earning him some high praise from his head coach Joe Mazzulla.

“[Neemias], it’s great because, you know, he’s in and out of the lineup but, you know, if he was on any other team, he’d be a backup big,” Mazzulla said about Queta’s role with the Celtics. “I’m grateful because he allows us to hold him to an extremely high standard where nothing he ever does is good enough, but he has to do it because it’s important for us to win, and he made some big play for us on both ends of the floor.”

Joe went on to point out Neemias’ specific skillsets that allowed him to be successful against the Nuggets, saying, “It was his rim protection, it was his screening on the offensive end of the floor. He just allows you to coach him… I kind of hold him to standard whether he’s played one minute in a week or whether he’s started for us… He’s got a high ceiling and, you know, he’s getting better and better.”

From a teenager at Benfica, then to an all-conference player at Utah State, and now playing a contributing role on a team seeking its second NBA Championship in a row, Neemias Queta has come a long way from Lisbon, Portugal.

About Neemias Queta

The first Portuguese-born player in NBA history has traveled a long road to becoming an NBA regular. When the 24-year-old center signed with Utah State in 2018, he had no other college offers to play basketball.

Queta was named Mountain West All-Defense all three years with the Aggies while setting multiple school records along the way. The seven-footer was named MW Freshman of the Year and MW Defensive Player of the Year in 2019 after setting the program’s single-season record for blocked shots with 84.

As a sophomore, Queta averaged 13 points, 7.8 boards, and 1.7 blocks while making MW All-Defense and Second-Team All-MW for the second time.

Neemias Queta: "I can't describe it. Guys worked all year round just to get to this point, so I guess we just get to celebrate now."

"Hopefully I get to (bring the trophy to Portugal)."

Full interview: https://t.co/sVyKq63Kx8 pic.twitter.com/5o2zOXG6TP

— Bobby Manning (@RealBobManning) June 18, 2024

In his junior and final season at Utah State, Queta set the school record for blocks in a season (97) and blocks per game (3.3) while scoring 14.9 points and hitting 55.9 percent of his field goal attempts. He finished the season with his only First-Team All-MW selection and his second MW DPOY award. Nationally, Queta was recognized as the USBWA District VIII Player of the Year, the Bleacher Report National Defensive Player of the Year, and was one of four finalists for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award.

The Sacramento Kings selected Queta with the 39th pick in the 2021 NBA draft. He signed a two-way contract with the Kings and made his NBA debut on December 17 of that year. He became the first Portuguese player to score points in an NBA game, finishing with 11 points against Cleveland on January 11, 2022.

Queta signed with Sacramento in 2023 but was waived a month later.

In September 2023, the former Aggie signed a two-way deal with the Celtics and has been with the franchise since.

Tanner Tripp is a sports writer for KSL Sports covering all teams across the state of Utah. Follow him on X @tanner_tripp and Instagram @tanner.tripp here.

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