Avery Bradley made his first seven shots on Sunday night and outscored the Wizards in the first quarter by himself, 15-12. He made jump shots. He made layups. He even made a 3-pointer. That’s two straight games that Bradley has knocked down a 3, which is one more than he had made in his entire career before the weekend.

Bradley scored 23 points, grabbed three rebounds and didn’t commit a single turnover in 40 minutes subbing for Ray Allen, who missed the game with an ankle sprain. In a classic trap game, the Celtics handled the Wizards with ease, 88-76, in large part because Bradley dominated the first quarter.

“You guys don’t see it all the time,” Paul Pierce said. “We always tell him when he pushes the ball and attacks the rim, we don’t think everyone can stay in front of him. You know, he loses his defender on the backdoor cuts, he’s so fast and explosive that he can go up and dunk those. It’s just good to watch a guy like Avery grow up and mature right before your eyes over the last couple of years.”

It was without question the best game Bradley has played in his young career and leads to the inevitable question: Just how good can he be? It’s an impossible question to answer because there is no established ceiling yet for Bradley.

After a rookie season in which he dealt with an ankle injury and played just 162 minutes, he is literally developing before our eyes. It’s also worth remembering that he has never played in summer league and he has not even had a full training camp yet.

“Leaps and bounds in improvement compared to where he started,” Keyon Dooling said. “The sky’s the limit for him. I feel like he’s already the best on-ball defender in the league and now his offense is starting to catch on, as well.”

When the season began there was hope that Bradley could crack the rotation. That was the extent of the expectations. The Celtics envisioned him playing off the ball with Dooling running things at the point, but after Dooling got off to a slow start and injured his knee, Bradley took over the backup point guard role.

He played well subbing for Rajon Rondo when Rondo missed eight games with a sprained wrist. Ever since, Bradley has become a dependable, albeit sometimes uninspiring, backup point guard. With Allen and Mickael Pietrus out, Bradley was able to just be himself.

“Playing with Rondo is better for him,” Doc Rivers said. “Today, he was an athlete. That’s what he is; he’s a great athlete. When you’re playing with a great point guard that gives him the opportunity to do that.” 

There’s still a question of where his true position lies. As a point, he’s almost too careful, but that’s still light years ahead of last season when he had trouble simply bringing the ball up the floor.

“Playing point guard in the NBA is hard,” Bradley said. “Playing the two is a lot different, especially with the plays we run. Anybody and everybody on the bench has to be ready. Doc always tells us we have to be ready, we have to know the plays and I know all the plays at the one, two and three, so we just have to be prepared for anything.”

The Celtics have worked with him on cutting to the basket. When he’s on the court with the starters who draw the defense’s attention and are good passers, Bradley can score at will against teams like the Wizards for whom defense is something they do between jacking ill-advised jumpers. “If you play hard, especially on the floor with Rondo, the ball will find you,” Bradley said.

That in and of itself is a major progression for a player who still has one speed: fast and with his head down. He’s learning -- and it’s still a work in progress -- that when he moves without the ball, he can make better use of his natural gifts than when he tries to create opportunities for himself.

“Obviously, you can tell he’s far more comfortable at [the two-guard] and unfortunately for him, in a lot of ways, we’ve had to play him at the other position, but I think it gives him confidence,” Rivers said. “One of the things I’ve said consistently all year is he can shoot the ball, and he was making me a liar for most of the year and it was great to see them go in.”

At this point Bradley is in the dreaded no-man’s land between guard positions. He lacks the ideal height of a two-guard and he’s not a natural point guard. Dooling has been in this role his entire career and he thinks it’s actually a benefit for Bradley.

“It’s not difficult at all, especially when you’re young and you’re about to reach your prime because you can stay on the floor longer,” Dooling said. “It’s a bonus. Being a tweener is a problem, but being a combo is something that’s good.”

Still just 21 years old, Bradley is something of the antithesis of the stereotypical young player. He’s exceptionally polite, almost disarmingly so. During his packed postgame interview, a TV guy asked him to stand so the cameras could get him in their shot. Without a word, Bradley rose and continued the interview for as long as anyone had a question. He’s obviously proud of his defense, and justifiably so, but you’ll rarely hear him say anything that even approaches bragging.

He desperately wants to do the right thing on the court, which is both good and bad in that it sometimes blunts his athleticism, which is considerable. That’s what made Sunday’s game so revelatory.

“Avery played some solid minutes,” said Kevin Garnett in what was a major compliment. “He was aggressive. We encouraged him to be aggressive. At the same time he took shots that were there for him. He didn’t do anything that was out of the offense or out of the ordinary and he played solid. He was very, very solid for us.”

The next step for Bradley is learning how to create offense when he’s on the court away from the starters. The Celtics’ second unit has struggled mightily to score all season long and while he has the most natural talent, he’s also the most inexperienced.

“That’s the best feeling when you know where everybody else is supposed to be, not only that but you know how to create shots for yourself,” Bradley said. “When that time comes, I’ll be happy. I see Rondo and it looks so easy for him.”

In a season that has tested everyone’s resolve and been filled with unexpected setbacks and obstacles, Avery Bradley has become a legitimate NBA player. His future has yet to be determined, but of all the things that have happened, that is one of the true positive developments for the Celtics.