Celtics middle Neemias Queta was ejected from an elimination recreation at EuroBasket 2025 for a celebration that officers deemed extreme.
Taking part in for his native Portugal on Wednesday, Queta yelled and flexed after a tricky inside end over an Estonian participant. The bucket gave Portugal a 38-37 lead halfway by way of the third quarter however resulted in a technical foul on Queta.
As a result of it was the 7-footer’s second technical of the sport — he’d picked up his first only one minute earlier — he was disqualified and despatched to the locker room.
That is the play that bought Neemias Queta ejected pic.twitter.com/8MiZeYz7O5
— Ian Inangelo (@iinangelo) September 3, 2025
Queta, the one NBA participant on the Portuguese roster, tallied 15 factors, three rebounds, one block and one steal earlier than his ejection, taking pictures 5-for-8 from the sphere and 5-for-10 from the free-throw line. He entered the sport as Portugal’s chief in factors, rebounds and blocks in Europe’s marquee basketball match.
Regardless of Queta’s early exit, Portugal held on to defeat Estonia 68-65 and advance to the EuroBasket knockout rounds for the primary time.
“About that scenario, I’m not going to say a number of issues due to simply the respect I’ve for the sport, the respect I’ve for all of the gamers and the respect I’ve for all of the coaches,” Portugal head coach Mario Gomes instructed reporters in his postgame news conference. “I’m simply going to say that it’s very simple to make a name like that to a Portuguese participant.
“Concerning the crew response, we didn’t know what (would) occur. Virtually quarter-hour to play — we didn’t know. I’m a coach. I’m not a magician, and I’m not a guru. I’m only a coach. One factor I knew … was the crew was going to react. The crew was not going to throw the towel like we used to say. It’s about character.”
Portugal completed group play 2-3 with wins over Czechia and Estonia and losses to Serbia, Turkey and Latvia. The latter three nations — led by Nikola Jokic, Alperen Sengun and ex-Boston large man Kristaps Porzingis, respectively — additionally superior to the Spherical of 16, which begins Saturday in Riga, Latvia.
Porzingis praised Queta after their matchup on Monday, although he questioned whether or not his former teammate is ready to step into a starting role for the Celtics this season.
“What I’ll say is Neemi has been getting higher every year, and Coach (Joe) Mazzulla has been fairly powerful on him,” Porzingis instructed reporters. “I imagine that he’s getting to a degree the place he deserves some actual minutes, some actual rotation minutes. He’s been placing within the work, and you’ll see how he’s enjoying now within the match. I’m completely satisfied for Neemi. He’s a terrific, nice dude, actually cool particular person, and places within the time, places within the work. I’ll be completely satisfied to see him getting much more minutes this yr.”
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