White impresses with Queta as the Celtics remain perfect

Derrick White believes Neemias Queta is “more confident” after helping the Boston Celtics to a 122-102 victory over the Washington Wizards.

The Celtics maintained their NBA-perfect record this season with their first road win of the season, with Jayson Tatum leading the way with 25 points and 11 rebounds.

Jaylen Brown scored 27 points while White added 19 points, helping the defending champions extend their winning streak over Washington to five games.

The Wizards struggled to gain momentum in the season opener and trailed the Celtics throughout.

Boston looked a lot changed since its opening win over the New York Knicks, with Joe Mazzulla fielding a double-big lineup to make up for the absence of Sam Hauser.

One of the freshmen was Queta, who scored 12 points on 5 of 7 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds, including a game-high four on offense.

And White was impressed by the impact Queta had despite his short time on the pitch.

“He’s athletic, seems to get every offensive rebound and is just a big body,” White said.

“I just think he's a little more comfortable, a lot more confident and knows where he's supposed to be on offense. I think last year he maybe thought too much, but this year he just plays and does what he does.”

“He was really good for us in training camp and again (against Washington).”

Xavier Tillman and Luke Kornet were the Celtics' other substitutes and proved to be their most efficient scorers, combining for 10 of 14 goals from the field.

“The standard is the standard and no matter who we put there, we expect the same things,” White added.

“Obviously it's not Sam Hauser running around out there, but there's a lot of opportunities for us to gain advantages and I think all the bigs did a great job for us today.”