The Milwaukee Bucks will be dealing with two quality centers when they face the visiting Boston Celtics on Monday night.
The center position was a question mark for the Celtics when the season began, but it’s turned into one of the team’s strengths.
Starter Neemias Queta is coming off what may have been his best game since he entered the NBA. He scored a career-high 27 points and had 17 rebounds, two assists, one steal and three blocks in Boston’s 114-98 home triumph over Philadelphia on Sunday night. The Celtics also received 11 points and 12 rebounds from backup center Nikola Vucevic, who was acquired at the trade deadline.
Queta, 26, said the Boston coaching staff has been instrumental in his development.
“They really have a care factor, too,” Queta said. “They care for you as a person, too. Their ability to go out there every day, demand a bunch out of you and still be able to go out there and have a relationship with you outside of basketball. They try to have your best interests, too. They go beyond basketball Xs and Os off the court. They go out there and really care for you and that makes your job so much easier knowing they got your back.”
Queta was the fourth center behind Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet during his first two seasons with the Celtics, but has started in 55 of the 56 games he’s played in this season after that trio departed following last season. Queta is averaging career highs in points (9.8) and rebounds (8.2) per game.
“He’s done a good job this year,” Jaylen Brown said. “And I think he has another level that he can tap into, and I feel like he’s starting to tap into that next level.”
The Bucks are coming off Sunday’s 120-97 loss at Chicago, which ended its 11-game losing streak. The Bulls scored 27 straight points in the second half, a run that began in the third quarter and spilled into the fourth. Milwaukee missed 17 consecutive shots at one point in the fourth quarter.
“We didn’t get the right shots,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “Half of them were (two-point field goals) contested. When you approach the game and play like that you don’t deserve to win. If we’d have won the game I’d have been upset and taken the win because we need it, but that is not how you play basketball. … That was a disappointing loss and I hope we all feel it.”
Milwaukee is battling for the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference and the final spot in the East play-in tournament. The Bucks are three games out of that spot entering Monday. They have been playing without two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has missed the last 15 games with a right calf strain.
“Super frustrating,” Milwaukee’s Bobby Portis said following Sunday’s loss. “I wish we would have got the win, but we get a chance to go out there and play again tomorrow. Bright side is we have a game tomorrow. We don’t have to wait 48 hours to play.
“We just have to move on to the Boston game. (We have) 23 games left in the season and it’s getting tight for us. Gotta get on a heater here soon.”
Monday’s game will be the teams’ third meeting this season. The Bucks earned a 116-101 home victory on Dec. 11, and the Celtics prevailed 107-79 at home on Feb. 1.
