Mazzulla praises growth of rising Celtics player with defense on Stephen Curry

The Boston Celtics dropped the ball on Wednesday night. After three straight wins on the road, they came home to a meeting with the Golden State Warriors, who have also been hot this season. However, a lackluster offensive showing in the first half was too much to overcome.

Golden State walked away with a 118-112 win over the Celtics on Wednesday, led by 27 points from Stephen Curry and 16 apiece from Buddy Hield and Andrew Wiggins. But while the end result wasn’t what they wanted, there was still a positive to take away from the loss.

And it came from Neemias Queta.

Joe Mazzulla loved Neemias Queta's defense on Stephen Curry

Jaylen Brown missed his third straight game on Wednesday, meaning Boston’s starting lineup got shaken. For the second game in a row, Queta was inserted into the first five as Boston ran double bigs with him and Al Horford.

Throughout the game, especially early in the first and late in the fourth, the Warriors went right at Queta. Curry attacked him time and time again. But Queta stood his ground.

After the contest, Joe Mazzulla praised Queta’s defense on Curry, as well as the improvements he’s made on that side of the ball.

“He's doing a good job just understanding tendencies,” Mazzulla said. “He's doing a good job executing the coverages that we have. He forced him inside a three a couple times to his right hand. 

“So, he's just getting better and better at understanding what the scheme is and kind of what the tendencies are and then just the situational basketball of making reads on the defensive end. So he's definitely growing.”

Over the last few games, Queta’s stock has been on the rise. He’s been earning more and more minutes, impacting winning on both ends of the court. There are still a few mistakes mixed in, but not nearly as many as last year.

Golden State made it clear that they saw his perimeter defense as a point of weakness in Boston’s rotation, but the Celtics thought otherwise. The Warriors constantly tried to break him down, but he stood firm over and over again.

The Portuguese big man signed a multi-year extension with Boston this summer, and it’s clear to see why they wanted to keep him around. His improvements this season have been staggering.

Queta’s defense on Curry was only the latest highlight in a long reel he’s been putting together this season.