By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
After missing 14 straight games of the 2025-26 NBA Regular Season due to a fractured right ring finger, Montenegrin center Nikola Vucevic made his return to the court on Sunday as the Boston Celtics secured a 115-101 victory over the Toronto Raptors at TD Garden.
The 35-year-old veteran logged 13 minutes off the bench in his first action in nearly a month, finishing with four points on 2-of-5 shooting, four rebounds, and one assist. “I felt pretty good the week leading up to today,” Vooch said during his postgame press conference. “I did some on-court stuff with my right hand. On Friday, I was able to scrimmage a little bit, get up and down the court. It felt pretty good, and I just felt like it was good enough for me to get out there and play.”
With the 2026 NBA Playoffs, presented by Google, approaching, Vucevic emphasized the importance of using the final stretch of the Regular Season to build rhythm. “Obviously, the chemistry part, that just has to come from us playing and practicing together, which is good to at least get these five games in before the Playoffs,” he added.
Head coach Joe Mazzulla noted that the limited minutes were partly due to situational rotations. “It was only 13 minutes. I thought that offensively he made the right reads,” he said. “Second half, we were looking at some different matchup stuff, so we didn’t get him in as much as we wanted to. He was fine, I thought, and we just got to continue to get him acclimated.”
Meanwhile, Portuguese starting center Neemias Queta continued his breakout campaign, dominating the paint with 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting, seven rebounds, four assists, and three blocks in 34 minutes. His performance drew high praise from Jaylen Brown, who stumped for the 26-year-old’s Most Improved Player candidacy. “Neemi’s been great,” he mentioned. “In my opinion, he’s probably one of the most improved players this year. And I don’t know if he’s up for the award, but he should be.”
The C’s also featured a brief appearance from Spain’s Hugo Gonzalez, while teammates Amari Williams of Great Britain, Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Luka Garza, and Ukrainian Max Shulga did not see game action.
On the opposite sideline, the team led by Serbian head coach Darko Rajakovic received efficient contributions from their own European core. Austrian starter Jakob Poeltl recorded 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting with two rebounds in 20 minutes, while Georgian reserve Sandro Mamukelashvili provided a spark off the bench with ten points, six rebounds, and four assists in 24 minutes.
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