John Wall and Bradley Beal are playing better together as a tandem than they ever have. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)

It’s most impressive that they’re unimpressed. The Washington Wizards, winners of 16 of their past 22 games, aren’t wasting much time entertaining ego. In the past, they have been accused of letting any strand of success turn them complacent, but not this time, not after the desperation they acquired during an awful start and not with the purpose they have been given by an unflappable new coach.

When asked Wednesday after a victory over Memphis what the Wizards have accomplished in crawling out of an early-season hole, center Marcin Gortat replied: “Nothing. We have to continue to do what we do. We aren’t getting excited.”

You know a team has been through some things when even the players are cautious with their enthusiasm. It’s not that the Wizards and their followers shouldn’t revel in the progress they have made. When this team was 7-13, did you really envision a turnaround like this? It’s midseason, and the Wizards have a 23-19 record. They are the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race. They don’t have much of a cushion: They are just five games from falling to 11th in the East standings. But their record resembles the on-paper expectations again, and they have recovered enough to tame the uncontrollable cynicism that accompanied the season’s miserable opening weeks.

[After all-star snub, John Wall puts on a show at Madison Square Garden]

To appreciate the Wizards now — playing solid and consistent basketball, winning 13 straight home games and leveraging their strengths wonderfully to offset their weaknesses — you have to go back to that dire start and realize how it has benefited this team. It’s funny because competitors often insist they don’t need to lose to learn valuable lessons, but in this case, failure was the Wizards’ best teacher.

It created an awkward duality: Those struggles — the very thing that drove away people in November — are what made them relevant. The worst in them brought out their best.

Entering the season, the Wizards still had an air of entitlement about them, this assumption that they had an elite backcourt, that their young talent was among the NBA’s best and that they were destined to return to the playoffs.

And then they started the season 2-8.

And even entitlement jumped off the bandwagon.

Fan criticism included cries to tear this roster apart and start over. Trade John Wall. Trade everybody. Fire Ernie Grunfeld and anyone who has ever smiled at him. It was an understandable reaction to the catastrophe. But they had a few underestimated things going for them.

First, the transition to the style of Coach Scott Brooks was rocky, but it was clearly the direction in which this team needed to go. In addition, Wall, their all-star point guard, was getting healthy. And finally, Bradley Beal, their $128 million shooting guard, was preparing to be more than an injury-prone young player with potential.

It was a struggle early, including several close losses that could have altered the perception of the slow start. But Brooks has made an impact, delivering a team that competes nightly and continues to work through its flaws. Wall is playing the best and most efficient basketball of his life, averaging 23.1 points and 10.3 assists and shooting a career-best 46.4 percent. The same can be said for Beal, who warrants all-star consideration with a 21.8-point scoring average while shooting 45.6 percent overall, including 39.4 percent from three-point range.

These three factors are the start of every other good thing that has occurred. Gortat has had to play a career-high 35.2 minutes per game because of backup center Ian Mahinmi’s knee problems, but he’s averaging a double-double and has been a stabilizing presence. Power forward Markieff Morris has found the ideal situation, and his bouts of streaky play are diminishing. Small forward Otto Porter Jr. has become the all-around hustling, dangerous No. 3 option the Wizards drafted him to be, and he has added deft long-range shooting to his skill set; he is second in the NBA in three-point percentage (.458). And while the bench isn’t good overall, that unit has manufactured some positions, including the improvement of 21-year-old forward Kelly Oubre Jr. and the inspired recent play of big man Jason Smith.

“We’ve just adjusted to the new system and our new style of play,” Beal said. “Everybody was a little bit fresh, but now everything is set in stone, and we have pretty much a good flow and a good rhythm. You know who’s going to play, what rotations we have and what your role is on the team.”

[Opponents keep letting Otto Porter Jr. shoot. He keeps making them pay.]

After reports of Wall-Beal friction dominated the offseason conversation, the guards have functioned better as a star tandem than ever. The most important thing is that they have been healthy enough to play their best. Beal has missed just four games; Wall has missed two. And Beal’s improvement makes it much easier for Wall to share the spotlight.

Beal is scoring five more points per game than his career average. It’s no longer as if the franchise is anointing the 23-year-old Beal as Wall’s co-star. That rankled Wall, who had to grow up the hard way as a scrutinized No. 1 overall pick and still feels underappreciated. But now that Beal is healthy and performing like an all-star himself, the on-court chemistry between the two has grown. Beal’s game is more mature. And so is Wall’s leadership.

“I think his leadership has been a lot better, just in terms of talking to everybody, leading by example, working tremendously hard and basically being that floor general we need him to be,” Beal said of Wall. “He’s been terrific. He’s been the head of the snake all year, and we just need him to continue to be that way.”

When measuring streaks, you always judge a team at its hottest, which is why everyone notes how the Wizards are 16-6 in their past 22 games. But I like to go back a little more, to when things were still stabilizing, to make a bigger point: Since their 2-8 start, the Wizards are 21-11. That’s a 32-game sample size, almost 40 percent of the season, which includes some lows to counter some highs that will be impossible to sustain. And in that time, their winning percentage is .656.

That implies stability. That shows the Wizards have been a good team this season for much longer than they have been miserable.

You know to be guarded. You know this franchise hasn’t had a 50-win season in 38 years. The Wizards have a gift for rising from terrible to acceptable and then pressing pause. So I’m not here to tell you that, without a doubt, change has finally come.

But if you covered your eyes in November and continue to hold that position, well, now would at least be a good time to take a peek.

For more by Jerry Brewer, visit washingtonpost.com/brewer.