WASHINGTON — Bradley Beal, with a plain black mask covering his face and donning a matching black beanie, sat down to speak with reporters for the first time in more than a week Monday. After missing three games with a hamstring injury before returning triumphantly in the Washington Wizards’ season finale Sunday, Beal finally took a moment to reflect. But it wasn’t the grueling, tumultuous and ultimately rewarding 2020-21 season he was remembering.

He was asked, of course, about 2017. There was little chance the Wizards would make it to Boston for Tuesday’s play-in game against the Celtics without someone bringing up the teams’ postseason history.

The previous time Boston and Washington met in May was four years ago in a drama-filled Eastern Conference semifinal series that featured deliciously petty trash talk, the Celtics dressing in all black for a “funeral game” – to bury the Wizards – and John Wall’s famed Game 6 winner.

Now?

“I’m probably the last troop still here from that team,” Beal said with a chuckle Monday. “I couldn’t tell you who’s still there from that team, maybe Marcus Smart? That’s probably the only guy left. … I guess it’s me versus Marcus Smart.”

Beal was right. He and Smart, both 27, are the last players standing from a once-flourishing rivalry that has devolved into a matchup that stokes genuine intrigue more than it entices with superficial spectacle. The winner of Tuesday’s matchup clinches the seventh seed in the conference, while the loser must face the Indiana Pacers or Charlotte Hornets in the second round of the play-in tournament Thursday. The winner of that game claims the eighth seed for the playoffs.

Washington went 1-2 against Boston in the regular season, but both teams have changed substantially since they last met in February.

For the streaking Wizards (34-38), who cooled only slightly when they dropped a pair of games in Atlanta while Beal was missing because of a strained left hamstring last week, Tuesday’s play-in is an opportunity to claim the No. 7 seed and evade No. 1 Philadelphia in the first round of the playoffs. The Wizards had no answer for 76ers center Joel Embiid all year.

For the sputtering Celtics (36-36), who limped to the end of the season without second-leading scorer Jaylen Brown (wrist surgery), Tuesday represents a chance to reset and refocus after losing six of their final eight games. Boston’s biggest presences will be point guard Kemba Walker and all-star forward Jayson Tatum.

Beal always relishes the chance to face off against his childhood friend Tatum, whom he calls his brother. But the biggest question facing the Wizards is Beal’s health.

The guard played while still recovering from a strained hamstring Sunday, wearing tape in the first half before taking it off in the second for demonstrably improved mobility. He said he felt less sore than expected by Monday morning and chose to play because he didn’t want his first game back after missing a week of action to be in the play-in.

“I didn’t injure it any worse than what it was, so that’s positive. I obviously won’t still be 100 percent. It’s just a matter of managing it, playing the best that I can,” Beal said. “… (On Sunday) I probably made a hardheaded decision, and I played probably when I shouldn’t have, but we made the best of it. And honestly it’s going to be something you’re going to have to deal with whether it’s today or whether it’s Tuesday. So I just was like ‘OK, I’ll deal with it today and see how it goes.'”

Guard Raul Neto, who has been in and out of the starting lineup all season, is probable with a left hamstring strain of his own. Beal’s availability is of high interest not just because he leads Washington at 31.3 points per game but because the Wizards’ guards will be key to their success at TD Garden. Washington hasn’t shot well from three-point range all season and instead has made its living on Beal, Russell Westbrook and other guards, including Ish Smith and Neto, driving hard in the paint.

“That’s how we have to play: We have to be able to attack the rim,” Coach Scott Brooks said. “We have guys that can’t get to the paint and we have some shooters that can space out the floor, but our penetrating guards are dynamic and we want them to get to the bucket and create opportunities to get to the free throw line or get some early fouls so we can get into the bonus because we need free throw attempts.”

Keeping Tatum (26.4 points) locked up will be the Wizards’ biggest concern on defense. Beal will take some of those defensive duties, but Brooks said Monday that, as with all elite players, he’ll need to throw different defenders at the all-star to make him uncomfortable.

Whomever he ends up guarding, and however sore he feels, Beal said he’s just happy to have made it through an injury-filled, rocky season. He called the 2020-21 campaign “rewarding.” For all the hardship they endured, Beal and the Wizards emerged with a chance to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2018.

“It’s been amazing, and it’s all I’ve been caring about, I’ve been focusing on – like you said, I haven’t been in the playoffs in two, three years,” Beal said. ” . . . We definitely took some bumps and lumps on the way, [but it] helped mature my game and prepare for this situation. I’m definitely excited that we’re back to where we belong.”

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