Derrick White believes Neemias Queta is "more sure of himself" after helping the Boston Celtics cruise to a 122-102 win over the Washington Wizards. (More Sports News)
The Celtics maintained their perfect record in the NBA this season with their first road win of the season, with Jayson Tatum leading the charge with 25 points and 11 rebounds.
Jaylen Brown scored 27, while White added 19 as the reigning champions extended their winning streak over Washington to five games.
The Wizards struggled to gain any momentum in what was their season opener and trailed the Celtics throughout.
Boston were much changed from their opening win over the New York Knicks, as Joe Mazzulla went with a double-big line-up to make up for Sam Hauser's absence.
One of those brought in was Queta, who scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds, including a game-high four on the offensive end.
And White was impressed with the influence Queta had despite his short time on the court.
"He's athletic, seems to get every offensive rebound, and is just a big body around the rim," White said.
"I just think he's a little more comfortable, a lot more sure of himself, of where to be in the offense. I think last year he was maybe thinking too much, but this year he's just playing and doing what he does.
"He was really good for us in training camp and again [against Washington]."
Xavier Tillman and Luke Kornet were the other backups brought in by the Celtics, and proved their most efficient scorers, shooting a combined 10-of-14 from the field.
"The standard is the standard and no matter who we put in there, we expect the same things," White added.
"Obviously, it's not Sam Hauser running around out there, but there's a lot of ways for us to create advantages and I thought all the bigs did a great job for us today."
