BOS 114, HOU 93: Queta Dominates Glass With 19 Boards
Tommy Flanagan
Journeyman Electrician ยท Boston Celtics fan
Celtics Roll in Houston: Bench Mob Carries Boston to Blowout Win
Look, I'm not gonna sugarcoat this. When the Celtics roll into Houston and the final score is 114-93, that's not a competitive game. That's a statement. And for fantasy purposes, it means we got one of those weird nights where the entire narrative shifts because your rotational guys went nuclear.
| Player | ESPN FP | Yahoo FP | Tonight | Season Avg | +/- Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neemias Queta | 59.0 | 54.8 | 10/19/2 | 10.1/8.3/1.5 | -0.1 |
| Payton Pritchard | 44.0 | 40.1 | 27/3/7 | 17.1/4.3/5.3 | +9.9 |
| Derrick White | 42.0 | 39.2 | 28/1/8 | 17.3/4.5/5.6 | +10.7 |
| Alperen Sengun | 32.0 | 34.3 | 13/9/3 | 21.2/9.4/6.2 | -8.2 |
| Baylor Scheierman | 36.0 | 34.0 | 15/10/4 | 3.5/2.4/0.9 | +11.5 |
| Luka Garza | 30.0 | 31.2 | 19/6/2 | 8.1/4.3/1.1 | +10.9 |
| Kevin Durant | 27.0 | 29.5 | 15/5/1 | 25.9/5.4/4.5 | -10.9 |
| Ron Harper Jr. | 29.0 | 26.3 | 11/9/3 | 3.0/1.9/0.9 | +8.0 |
| Jabari Smith Jr. | 26.0 | 24.3 | 13/4/3 | 15.1/6.8/1.9 | -2.1 |
| Amen Thompson | 16.0 | 21.8 | 11/4/4 | 18.0/7.7/5.5 | -7.0 |
The Celtics Bench Just Broke Fantasy Basketball
Okay so here's the thing. I watch a ton of Celtics games because, yeah, green jersey bias is real. But tonight was just different. The starters basically sat comfortable the entire second half while the bench unit put on a clinic, and it absolutely torched anybody who was counting on the Rockets to keep this close.
Neemias Queta dropped a clean 54.8 Yahoo points on basically league minimum minutes. The dude grabbed 19 rebounds (19!) in 38 minutes. For context, his season average is 8.3 boards per game. That's not a typo. He went +10.7 on the glass alone. This is the kind of game that makes you think "wait, should I have been starting this guy all year?" The answer is complicated, but in blowouts against weak rebounding teams, yeah, he's now on the watchlist.
Payton Pritchard was the actual hero though. 27 points on 9-20 shooting with five threes. That's +9.9 points above his season average. Pritchard came off the bench and just kept shooting, and Houston couldn't do anything about it. The Rockets' interior defense got cooked all night, and PP took full advantage. This is interesting because Pritchard has been solid all year (17.1 PPG average), but nights like this show he can go full boom mode. Keep him benched if the Celtics are playing a team that can actually defend, but slot him in against the weak defensive rosters.
Derrick White joined the party with 28 points, 8 assists, and 6 threes. That's 39.2 Yahoo points, which is +10.7 from his average. White is actually having a sneaky good season (on pace for All-NBA consideration based on his defense and efficiency), but he doesn't usually drop 28. When games get out of hand early, the Celtics just let their guys feast. This was one of those nights.
The Rockets Side: It Was Brutal
Look, I gotta be real with you. Kevin Durant shooting 4-11 and scoring just 15 points while the team got beat by 21 is not the vibe. That's -10.9 from his season average. KD was supposed to carry this one, but the Celtics' depth just overwhelmed Houston early. When you're down 20 in the third quarter, it doesn't matter what your All-NBA guy is doing, the game's over.
Alperen Sengun had moments (13 points, 9 boards) but got smothered on the interior by Queta and the Boston bigs. He came in -8.2 on scoring, which tells you everything. The Rockets' best player outside of Durant basically disappeared because Boston just had answers for everything.
The real problem for Houston is this: Baylor Scheierman had 15 points and 10 boards in 23 minutes for Boston, coming off the bench. The dude is averaging 3.5 PPG on the season and went +11.5 tonight. That's what happens when a team with no interior defense plays the deepest frontcourt in the league. Every Celtics big got fed.
Fantasy Takeaways
Don't overreact to tonight. Blowouts are fantasy heroin. Everyone looks great. Queta's 54.8 points is cool, but in competitive games with smart defensive schemes, he's still a 10-8-1.5 guy. Pritchard's 27 points is real, but it's also against a team that's basically giving up on the season.
The Rockets situation is more interesting. If you own KD, don't panic, but know that Houston needs to tighten up their defense or you're gonna keep seeing nights like this. And if anyone's dropping Amen Thompson because of a quiet 21.8 points, that's league-dependent panic. The guy's still your third-best player.
For waiver wire purposes, don't waste a priority add on Queta or any of these Celtics role guys. The performance was real, but it's one-game specific. The Rockets experiment with Scheierman and the other bench guys going off isn't worth chasing either.
Bottom line: Boston just showed why they're the Celtics. Depth wins basketball games, and depth definitely wins fantasy matchups when the game gets out of hand. If you played Boston's bench pieces, you had a great night. If you didn't, just chalk it up and move on.