Isaiah Thomas and the Celtics have their moment

BOSTON — Few things are as exciting in the NBA these days as Isaiah Thomas with the ball in his hands and a game hanging in the balance. It’s an astonishing thing to watch when every single person in the arena knows he’s going to try to score, and then he does it anyway.

Whether he’s driving into the teeth of the defense for corkscrew layups or unleashing shots from behind the arc, Thomas plays with such extreme confidence that the crowd begins to stir from the moment he makes his move. The anticipation builds and builds until it reaches its crescendo before the ball even goes through the hoop.

It was late in the third quarter of the Celtics vs. Wizards finale when Thomas really cranked it up. He had spent the day watching old Game 7s and this was the moment he craved. More than anything, Thomas wants the validation that comes with being a star. Not just the recognition of All-Star appearances and All-NBA nods, what Thomas desires are the ephemeral moments of transcendence when he is able to craft his legend.

Checking back into a two-point game, he quickly went to work and got to the free throw line, tying the score in the process. Then he got loose in transition and nailed a couple of pull-up three-pointers. The crowd, which is now his crowd the way it was Paul Pierce’s not so long ago, roared its approval, and that was essentially ballgame.

There were many moments still to play out in Game 7, including the best game of Kelly Olynyk’s career and numerous Marcus Smart Plays. (If there was a box score stat for PLAYS, Smart would be among the league leaders.) But the Celtics never trailed after I.T.’s outburst and now they are in the conference finals. Let that sink in for a moment.

They were 20-31 when Thomas arrived in 2015, joining a team devoid of star power and seemingly marking time until something better came along. Thomas gave the Celtics offensive life and a bravado that was perfect to begin their impossible task. Rarely has a player’s skill set and ambition met a more perfect match.

“It says a lot because nobody thought we’d be here this fast, especially when I got traded here,” Thomas said. “I don’t think anybody was thinking that. But the players on this team, from the first guy to the last guy, we believe in each other and we never give up. And we feel like we’re just as good as any team in the NBA.”

That notion will be put to the ultimate test when the conference finals begin against Cleveland on Wednesday, but there’s still an opportunity to savor the accomplishment and it shouldn’t go unnoticed. This was the team, after all, that hadn’t won so much as a single playoff series until a few weeks ago.

That the Celtics are a huge underdog against the Cavs wasn’t the point of this series against Washington. Validation and credibility were on the line here. The reckoning can wait for at least 48 hours.

Winning Game 7 gave their season legitimacy that clinching the best regular season record and beating the Bulls in the first round had failed to provide. Those were solid accomplishments, but one came gift wrapped courtesy of Cleveland’s lethargic close and the other was a little bit more work than people wanted to see from the top seed.

Beating the Wizards is a much a stronger line on their resume. At the very least, advancing to the conference finals represents the apex of what reasonable people believe this roster can achieve. Regardless of what happens at the draft lottery on Tuesday, or in the next round, or even into the summer, this was a moment to appreciate this collection of players at this particular time.

Two and a half years ago, the Celtics were a burned-out shell of a team whose various parts were sold off around the league. Over a two-month period, Danny Ainge executed five trades, sending out established veterans and bringing back picks and players with upside. While none of those deals were in the same roster-building class as the Nets trade, Ainge acquired Thomas, Jae Crowder, and Jonas Jerebko along with multiple picks and cap space flexibility. That gave them a foundation.

Over the next few years, Ainge’s draft picks — Olynyk, Smart, Terry Rozier, and Jaylen Brown — assumed important roles, while Avery Bradley blossomed into a reliable starter and team leader. Veteran free agents like Amir Johnson and then Al Horford were attracted to their improving situation. In the process, the Celtics became a playoff team and Thomas became a star.

Any doubt about that status was extinguished during this marvelous playoff run that included a 53-point masterpiece in Game 2. It turned out to be the most important game of the series and will for the moment stand as Isaiah’s signature accomplishment.

His Game 7 line was merely sublime, scoring 29 points to go with 12 assists against just two turnovers. It was the kind of brilliant floor game few thought he could play, especially in the hothouse environment of the postseason. Thomas thrives on such doubts, and the motivation of slights — both real and perceived — are never far from his thoughts.

“They didn’t give us a chance in this series,” he said. “They didn’t give us a chance when we were down 2-0 in Chicago. We got the No. 1 seed and they didn’t give us a chance. They don’t ever give us a chance and we just keep going. We don’t care about what others say.”

Thomas may be overstating his case a little, as he tends to do, but he’s right about one thing: They never really gave this team a chance. No matter what these Celtics were able to do, it was always viewed through the long lens of roster building as a prelude to something more meaningful and important.

There are always more lottery picks, free agents, and trade pieces lurking just around the corner to make the Celtics contenders again. All of that hope for the future had the effect of diminishing what they were accomplishing in the present.

Well, they’re contenders now. They’re underdogs to be sure, even with home-court advantage, but there are 26 other teams who would trade places with what they have at this very moment. Even if it’s just for a day, they have that. And Isaiah Thomas has his Game 7, a final piece of validation on what has been a remarkable season.