Washington struggling for support at Verizon
One after the other they’ve paraded through Verizon Center, each ravenously cheered, even though they don’t play for the Wizards.
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Kevin Durant, Kevin Garnett, Blake Griffin, Jeremy Lin. Even the chants for Brian Scalabrine were stupefying in volume and passion during a Chicago Bulls’ victory over Washington last season.
Now, LeBron James has never quite been a fan favorite in D.C., but in the first of two visits by Miami this season — the other for the season finale on April 26 — the Wizards (5-21) will likely be vying for support from the stands as much as they are playing against the Heat (19-7) on the court. They’ll then depart town for actual road games, on a five-game swing, their second-longest of the season.
| Up next |
| Heat at Wizards |
| When » Friday, 7 p.m. |
| Where » Verizon Center |
| TV » CSN |
“We’ve played enough games that we know what the crowd’s going to be,” Wizards rookie forward Chris Singleton said. “It seems like they’re against us for the first three quarters, and then they’re on our side for the fourth. I guess that’s how Washington works.”
In Monday’s 111-108 overtime win against Toronto, that was the case, as the arena fed off the Wizards’ defense down the stretch — even after they’d squandered an 18-point lead.
“We’re battling to get the crowd on our side,” Wizards guard John Wall said. “So we make it a good game, the crowd starts to turn over and come to our side. When you got a crowd on your side, playing against these type of teams, it helps motivate you. You get more energy and more life to do certain things. We gotta do it even when the crowd might not be on our side that day.”
The boos have been plentiful though, whether it’s been for Andray Blatche, who the crowd turned on during player introductions before he was sidelined last week by a calf strain, or for highly paid Rashard Lewis, who was comically ineffective during one stretch during the third quarter of last weekend’s loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
But more often it’s simply that while the crowds are looking for a reason to cheer, the Wizards instead find ways to turn them off. They know when JaVale McGee is out of control, when Jordan Crawford shoots too early and when Nick Young dribbles too much.
The response turns into a feedback loop. In Wednesday’s 107-93 loss to New York, Young botched an alley-oop in the first quarter that turned into cheers from Knicks fans — and plenty of other neutrals who were drawn to the prospect of watching Lin — when Tyson Chandler dunked at the other end of the floor.
“That’s tough,” Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. “That’s our job to play to have those guys on our side. Everybody that pays a ticket has a right to root for who they want. But obviously, at home, you want the fans on your side. We’re going to get to that, and it’s going to be that way someday.”
