WASHINGTON – They made the Boston Celtics call a timeout.

This was with 7:06 left in the first quarter of the Washington Wizards’ opening game against Boston. After eight quick points from Jordan Poole to start the game, Washington led 15-12.

The Celtics then calmly continued on an 86-58 run over the next two-plus quarters.

But Boston regrouping because of a string of good Wizards games, regardless of when it occurred during Thursday’s 122-102 Celtics loss, qualifies as a good night for Washington, especially against the defending NBA champions. You couldn’t measure the distance between Boston and Washington right now without a supercomputer.

The Celtics go for Banner 19; If all goes well, Washington will embark on an epic tank job designed to give the Wizards the best possible chance of landing a player in next year’s draft who could one day look like Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown. In the meantime, Washington will look to develop its three rookies from this year’s draft: Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington and Kyshawn George.

That is the mission for 2024-2025: lose with some dignity and grow.

Washington’s good five minutes to open the game, followed by 24 not-so-good minutes during the second and third quarters… each is a learning moment in a season like this.

“A little bit of both, for sure,” coach Brian Keefe said.

“There were some positives that came out of the game that you could see: our size, our athleticism, how we can defend when we’re really involved. Bilal (Coulibaly), Alex shows their height. And when we played with the tempo and shared the ball, we were pretty good. But then there will be lessons to learn. And I think we should use all these moments to teach and coach. We still have a chance on Saturday, but tomorrow is another day where we can improve (in practice). We are looking forward to that.”

Marvin Bagley III had 8 points in just 9:37 on the court. (Geoff Burke / Imagn images)

The positives: Poole made 6 of 11 3s on his way to 26 points. Coulibaly had six rebounds, six assists – and perhaps most importantly, eight free throws. Sarr had a few blocks and a few more plays. George has the length and footwork to potentially be a solid fullback.

The negatives? Oh man.

Sarr was 1-of-7 from the floor and looked completely lost with the ball in his hands up front. He was hit twice late in the shot clocks by Jrue Holiday, with the veteran guard fouling him in two fouls. Each of Washington’s starters had a blood-red negative plus-minus; Boston’s Derrick White, on the other hand, was a plus-33 in 29 minutes. The Celtics ground Washington’s offense into a fine paste even though they were only half-interested for most of the evening and even though they made “only” 17 3s after tying the NBA record for 3s on Tuesday in a game against the New York Knicks with 29.

The mission this season will be tough for the Wizards’ vets like Poole, Kyle Kuzma and Corey Kispert. They’re each hitting some of their best seasons this season. That it will serve a team designed to lose makes leadership more difficult, the difficult conversations players have to have with each other during a season much more difficult. Poole is still only 25. He will have to measure success very differently here, even if he has the ball full-time from this season.

“I guess I’m just trying to focus on the things we can get better at incrementally,” Poole said. ‘What we are like when we come in groups. How calm we are when other teams go for a run. How controlled are we in the game when we have to figure out how to organize ourselves. Just stick together and don’t get lost in taking pictures or messed up reporting because those are things that happen. And just try to find ways to stay together all the time. I think this is a really good challenge, especially for young guys playing their first game. We are going to compete against the defending champions.”

Jonas Valančiūnas, Washington’s big free-agent pickup this summer, is… how do I put this?

He’s way too skilled.

He’s a smart, quality veteran. He gives the Wizards a legitimate low-post option if they can’t escape and run. He’s still a monster of a human being at 32 years old and throws his 265 pounds around with great success. He drains offensive rebounds, draws fouls and sets great screens for his guards and wings. Poole feasted on JV’s dribble handoffs. The Celtics had to double his way in the third quarter.

And if he’s still on the roster after the trade deadline, the Wizards’ front office has made a big mistake. He will have an unlimited number of candidates who Washington will have to make a deal with for more picks and/or young prospects to have a better chance at more drafts.

Meanwhile, lawyers, politicians and construction delays will mark the next step in the Wizards’ evolution.

Monday’s announcement of a proposed deal, which would require D.C. City Council approval and would formally commit $515 million from the District for major renovations to Capital One Arena over the next three years, would modernize the building. Importantly, the Wizards will not be able to house their practice facility, as they had initially hoped, in the Gallery Place footprint they are acquiring from the city as part of the deal. But the team says unequivocally that a new practice facility will be built in DC

There were questions Monday, as there should be, about taxpayers footing the bill for owner Ted Leonsis. Personally, I can’t say in the way I have over the past few months that Leonsis’ now scuttled arena deal with Virginia was an insult to DC and that the city had to do what was necessary after getting a mulligan to restart the talks with him about keeping the Wizards and Capitals in town and then complains about the price tag it will take.

Technically, under the terms of the proposed deal, the city will purchase Capital One Arena from Leonsis’ Monumental Sports for $87.5 million, then lease it to the team over the 25-year term of the plan — which is in trade is known as a “sale-leaseback agreement.” But by pouring all $515 million into upgrades to the building, the business side of Leonsis’ empire won’t have to pay taxes.

When asked Monday whether he should “defend” the deal to D.C. taxpayers, he took umbrage.

“I shouldn’t have to defend it,” Leonsis said. “All the money goes to the building, instead of paying taxes. Isn’t that the right thing to do strategically?”

He noted that the Nationals, Ravens and Orioles have all received grants from their municipalities in recent years to modernize their stadiums under similar arrangements.

I asked Leonsis whether the Capital One project will resemble the “transformation” of Madison Square Garden, the renovation plan for the home of the Knicks and Rangers over a very similar three-summer period, which was completed on time in 2013 at a cost of $1 billion. That project was fully financed by Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. (On the other hand, MSG has enjoyed a property tax exemption from New York City since 1982, which has saved the company nearly $1 billion, according to a 2023 independent study.)

Ideally, a new Capital One will not only host events like a potential NCAA Women’s Final Four down the street, but also serve as a “portal,” as one person involved in the discussions put it Monday, to an improved downtown.

“There will be much clearer signs of change,” Leonsis said. “That was more important than just doing a painting job. If you look at Philadelphia, where they’ve spent $400 million (on improvements to the Wells Fargo Center), I would say it’s not as ecumenical in terms of investing in ‘what do we do for the players, what do we do for the employees, what do we do for the players? what do we do for the fans, what do we do for the city?’ This will be a very, very big transformation. It will look different from the outside, it will look and feel different from the inside, the parking lot will be different, the entrances will be different. That’s the most important thing to make it new. And we want players to come from other teams. I don’t want them to train in front of the lift on the side because there is no room” in the visiting locker room.

If all goes according to plan, the “new” Capital One should be ready for service in the 2027-2028 season. That’s exactly when, if all goes according to plan, the “new” Wizards should have a young and promising core, ready to rejoin the NBA after so, so long in the wilderness. That can only happen in the long run if there are more short-term nights like Thursday, a step in what will surely be another sunken season, a necessary punishment for all those decades of chasing mediocrity instead of excellence.

(Photo by Alex Sarr: Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)