Neemias Queta is fresh off the best season of his NBA career — and a summer in which he signed a 4-year, $56 million contract extension with the Celtics. And while Queta is still a few months away from NBA action, he’s currently representing (and thriving with) Portugal’s national team, which is participating in the FIBA World Cup qualifying games.
On Friday, Queta tallied 16 points (on 5-10 FG) and 9 rebounds in 24 minutes in a 95-89 win over Spain (and fellow Celtics teammate Hugo Gonzalez). But
he left the game early after spraining his ankle.
Three days later, Queta put together an even more dominant performance in a 98-90 loss to Georgia. The Celtics center scored 20 points (on 8-10 shooting) to go along with 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 blocks, and 1 steal.
Portugal’s summer qualifying action now concludes, and Queta will soon return to Boston, where Celtics training camp is just a few months away. Portugal finished 4-4 in Group Play games this summer.
Hugo Gonzalez and Luka Garza have also participated in the World Cup Qualifying games
Hugo Gonzalez, who is on the Spanish national team, has struggled through two games. In Spain’s loss to Portugal, he finished with 3 points and 3 rebounds, and was a team-worst -23 in his 23 minutes.
Then, in Spain’s 108-106 loss to Greece, he finished with 3 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 turnovers. Spain was outscored by 14 points in his 11 minutes on the floor. Spain finished 5-3 in Group Play games this summer.
Luka Garza, who is on the Bosnian national team, has been productive through two games. On Friday, he tallied 14 points and 7 rebounds in a 78-73 loss to Lithuania. Then, on Monday, he finished with 10 points and 7 rebounds in 12 minutes off the bench in a 78-76 win over Italy. Bosnia finished 3-5 in Group Play games this summer.
All of the action is to determine which countries will qualify for the 2027 FIBA World Cup, which will take place between August 27 and September 12th in Qatar. In total, 32 teams will qualify: seven teams from FIBA Americas, seven teams from FIBA Asia/Oceana, five teams from FIBA Africa, and 12 teams from FIBA Europe. Qatar automatically qualifies as the host nation. Qualifying action continues in November.
