The middling, unpredictable, unreliable Washington Wizards have become an easy mark on their home court. They have lost 13 games at Verizon Center before the midway point of the season. That’s more than they lost all last year at home.
Monday’s 108-98 bludgeoning from the Portland Trail Blazers sunk the Wizards to 9-13 on their home floor a year after being 29-12 there. The Blazers were angry that the Philadelphia 76ers embarrassed them on Saturday. That term can be overused or added lightly. Not so there. Portland lost by 25 points to Philadelphia, which is wallowing around the league with a 5-38 record. No team is worse.
The Wizards were warned. Portland would be mad and taking the floor with egos bruised. Coach Randy Wittman said he told the team beforehand. Assistant coach Don Zierden, often a savant with his pregame foreshadowing, emphasized the issue. Players said afterward the message was clear. The Wizards trailed by 15 points by the end of the first quarter.
And, don’t be fooled by the final deficit. The second quarter was the only one in which the Wizards played well. They trailed by 24 points at one point. The Blazers went on a 23-1 run in the third quarter. Portland spent the afternoon casually enjoying a holiday.
This, like so many of the season’s woes, was a repeat of a previous ill. The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the 76ers earlier in the season, then arrived at Verizon Center and knocked the Wizards around. That specific point was even brought up before the game on Monday. A prominent, recent example of what could happen was put into the Wizards’ laps. They reduced the exemplar to irrelevancy.
One game prior to the midpoint of the season, the Wizards don’t know why they can win on the road, where they are a reasonable 10-8, but not at home. They are unsure what is causing a lack of focus, or energy, or however not playing well can be termed. Their fits and starts have not been helped by rampant injuries. But, they have also shown they can win when short-handed.
“I don’t have an answer for you,” Wittman said. “I don’t know. I wish I had an answer for you. It’s a mindset we’ve got to change. That’s my job. I’ve got to figure that out.”
Lulls are the core of a .500 team, which the Wizards are struggling to be. They are 19-21 after a recent four-game surge pushed them to 19-19 and back-to-back losses kicked them down to their current state. Injuries have caused the available roster to be inconsistent. Then, those who are available, have been inconsistent.
Again Monday, the roster was tempered and stripped. Bradley Beal came off the bench and remained on a minutes restriction. In his third game played since missing a month of time, Beal played 24:26. He expects to be available for limited minutes during the next week or two. Nene also remained on a minutes restriction. Otto Porter (hip), Drew Gooden (calf), Kris Humphries (knee) and Alan Anderson (ankle) remained out.
A heaving load rests on John Wall. If he’s not running at an optimum level, doing the things that made him Eastern Conference player of the week last week and conference player of the month for December, then the house crumbles.
It’s unfair to him in most ways. He’s one of two players on the team to play every game in this can’t-get-right season. Wall is the only Wizards player to start every game. Days from the midpoint of the season, the Wizards’ reliance on Wall remains at its peak.
Monday afternoon was a slog for him. He was 4-for-17 from the field. He was called for a technical foul with 3:07 to play and the Wizards trailing by 15 points, finally deciding to vent his irritation with the referees.
Just because Wall has the responsibility doesn’t mean he deserves blame. He dragged them through December with a ferocious month, when he averaged 22.6 points, 11.7 assists and shot 46 percent from the field. He has been almost as good in January. Yet, if he shoots less than 40 percent in a game, the Wizards are 7-12.
Despite the circumstances, he’ll only crank fingers toward himself and defend those around him.
“It was frustrating for me because I feel like I was letting my team down,” Wall said of Monday’s performance.
Noticeable to the Wizards against the Boston Celtics last weekend was a vocal group of Boston fans in the building. Hearing from fans of the opposing team is not out of the ordinary at Verizon Center, which is rarely full and even less often boisterous. When Kobe Bryant arrived with the Lakers, the arena was swarmed by Lakers fans. Kevin Durant receives the same support for his Oklahoma City Thunder. A “Let’s go Blazers!” chant even made its way throughout the arena Monday. The Blazers are based 2,810 miles away.
Considering the environment, results and current lack of home remedies, the Wizards are willing to accept those rooting for the opposition. Maybe it will help. Nothing else has.
“When we go one the road, we’re focused,” guard Garrett Temple said. “We walk out as if it’s an us-against-the-world mentality. I really don’t know why we cannot win at home and why we have not won at home. It’s perplexing, to say the least.
“I heard John say, we have a lot of teams … Boston had half the arena last night. So, maybe we should just accept that, embrace that and act like it’s a road game. Whatever it takes, we’ve got to find a way to get it done.”
• Todd Dybas can be reached at tdybas@washingtontimes.com.
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