Celtics starting center Neemias Queta will sit out for the first time this season on Wednesday when the team faces the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons, Brian Robb of MassLive.com reports. Queta suffered a sprained left ankle in Sunday’s win over the Magic and did not practice on Tuesday.
Queta is averaging a career-high 9.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, and the Celtics are a far superior defensive team with him on the floor this year, Robb notes. Boston has allowed 25.7 fewer points per 100 possessions during his 402 minutes on the court.
Boston will have to rely on Xavier Tillman, Chris Boucher and Luka Garza at the center spot in his absence. Queta’s three-year, $7.2MM contract is only partially guaranteed for next season, but he has significantly outplayed that deal so far this season.
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- Brandon Ingram kept shooting and the Raptors kept on winning. Ingram took 30 field goal attempts while scoring 37 points in an 11-point win over Cleveland on Monday. Toronto stretched its winning streak to eight games. “He’s a player, especially when he gets going, we as a team recognize that. We need that,” coach Darko Rajaković said, per Eric Koreen of The Athletic. “It’s good for us. At the same time, we’ve got to stay inside our principles and make good decisions, play with ball movement, finding him through that style of play as well.”
- Paul George sat out Tuesday’s game against the Magic after he experienced ankle soreness, coach Nick Nurse told the media, including The Athletic’s Tony Jones (Twitter link). George had originally been listed as probable. Nurse isn’t sure if the veteran forward will miss more than one game. He has played three games this month after returning from offseason knee surgery.
- On a related topic, Jones examines whether the Sixers have enough depth to overcome injuries. He concludes they don’t have enough quality bodies to compete, relative to the East’s top teams, who have dealt with their own injury issues. “Yeah, we have to do the best that we can,” Nurse said. “We have to plug in who we can plug in, and we have to do what we need to do. We have to start who’s next in line and figure out the matchups. We have to make decisions. Some of them work and some don’t. The ones that don’t work, we have to change them. We have our discussions, and we have to try and do what’s best for the group.”
Mazzulla’s done a great job of over-using Queta, 17 games.. golf clap
He’s playing 23 minutes a game.
Golf clap for your hoops knowledge.
Soxers coming back to reality tonight. Magic are a top 4 team in the East. Did y’all forget that. Black is definitely the guy who can take this team to another level. 22 yrs old third year in L. For all the haters on here who give up on players at 20 yrs old. Magic are deep and young. They starting to roll ….
VJ after playing 37!mins a game. Where is he ???
I pray tgey don’tburn Maxey out. Get well VJ ….
Mo Wagner is out Banchero is out. This is a deep Magic team. Would love for Knicks to look into Issac lols.
OK ————. So someone actually thought it was a good idea to resign Embiid to a 5 yr max deal. Not a three year deal ….. A 5 YEAR DEAL
Then that same person thought it was a good idea to sign. A FA Paul George to a max 5 year deal. Not a three year deal. I know it’s easy to look back. But this is franchise killer moves. And this person is still running things in Philly. How The F does that happen.
How bad do things have to get before you actually do something positive.
You are getting your aaass handed to you by 40 points. Philly has the 8th highest payroll in the NBA,199.2 million ……. Fans shouldn’t even show up for games lol ……..
Ok, we’ll see who Coach Mazzulla plays tonight against Detroit without Queta and how. This season is all about finding new rotation players for the Celtics as all we have to do is sneak in the playoffs, 10th or higher. No real pressure. Supposed to be on ESPN. I’m looking to see Celts new players fit in. Just hope we don’t get blown out early. Anything else will be fun to watch. Walsh defending Cade. Baylor shooting threes. Minott’s athleticism. And how Garza stands up to Duren. And play Hugo and Harper. Play the full roster. Can’t wait. Sports loving family will be here for Thanksgiving and will watch. Go Celtics!