Boston Celtics center posts impressive line in EuroBasket upset bid

Neemias Queta had his memorable EuroBasket run come to an end on Saturday after Portugal fell to Germany 85-58 in the Round-of-16.

Portugal entered the contest as 29 point underdogs but still put up an admirable fight against the tournament favorites, trailing by just one point through three quarters.

However, Germany dominated the final frame, outscoring Portugal 33-7 over the final 10 minutes to advance to the quarterfinals to eliminate the Celtics center and Portugal.

Queta was a bright spot for Portugal yet again in the defeat, posting his second double-double of the tournament with 18 points and 11 rebounds along with two steals and a block in his 26 minutes.

He also hit his second 3-point field goal of the tournament, finishing 2-of-7 from beyond the arc over six appearances for Portugal.

Its unclear whether that outside shot will become a permanent fixture of his game in Boston this season but its certainly an encouraging development after failing to make any 3-point attempts to date in his NBA career.

Queta closes out EuroBasket averaging a team-best 15.5 points and eight rebounds per game for Portugal along with 1.7 blocks per game.

The 26-year-old scored in double figures in five of his six games and showed strong consistency as he helped lead Portugal to their first two EuroBasket wins since 2007 along with advancing to the knockout round for the first time.

The Boston center now gets three weeks to rest up before the start of Celtics training camp in Boston at the start of October.

Queta is expected to be the favorite to get the starting center job for Boston after the departures of Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kornet this offseason due to trade and free agency.

Luka Garza, Chris Boucher and Xavier Tillman will compete for minutes in the middle but if Quetas performance in EuroBasket is any indication, he has a strong chance of earning the job under Joe Mazzulla.

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