When the Boston Celtics arrived at Washington's Capital One Arena to take on the Wizards for a matinee on Jan. 23, there was no indication it would serve as the turning point of Boston's tumultuous season.

The Celtics had been coming off one of their most dispiriting losses of the season, blowing a double-digit, fourth-quarter lead at home to the Portland Trail Blazers, who were without star point guard Damian Lillard.

Jayson Tatum had missed 18 consecutive 3-point shots over a four-game stretch. The team's offense had hovered around the NBA's bottom 10. And the Celtics had fallen to 23-24 and 10th place in the Eastern Conference -- a half-game ahead of the New York Knicks for the final spot in the play-in tournament.

More than halfway through this season, Boston looked headed for a brief stint in the playoffs -- if it made it there at all.

Then came the 116-87 demolition of the Wizards, which saw Tatum score 51 and lift Boston back to .500 on the season. In the locker room afterward, Marcus Smart sensed change was afoot.

"After that game, we just had this mentality and mindset and this sense of urgency that we can feel that a change was starting," Smart says. "Once that got rolling, and we got on the right track, it was just smooth sailing from there."

Since that moment, the Celtics have transformed into arguably the NBA's best team, finishing the regular season with the league's top record (28-7), offense (120.2 points per 100 possessions) and defense (104.8).

And, after sweeping Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets and battling through seven games with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks, the Celtics are on to the Eastern Conference finals against the top-seeded Miami Heat (Game 1 is Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN).

But one of the more remarkable midseason turnarounds in NBA history didn't actually begin on Jan. 23. It began long before the results showed on the court.

"I don't think," Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said, "that anybody would have guessed that it was gonna take off like it did."

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