Wizards look to end winless season tonight

• Winless Wizards face struggling Pacers and want to avoid franchise-worst 0-9 start to a season.
• Offensive troubles have plagued Wizards, who are without injured guard John Wall and center Nene.
• Nene cautioned that he and Wall won't be a "miracle" for Washington's woes when they return.

WASHINGTON – The only winless team in the NBA sees losses that should have been wins. That's the way it works when a struggling team searches for a nugget of optimism.

That's the way it is today for the Washington Wizards as they go for their first win, at home against the Indiana Pacers.

The Wizards led the Boston Celtics late in the fourth quarter Nov. 3 only to lose 89-86. The Wizards had a lead early in the fourth quarter Nov. 10 against the Pacers, trailed by two late in the fourth and lost 89-85.

The Wizards see upcoming games that can be wins, too.

"We're right there," Washington center Emeka Okafor said. "We're heading in the right direction. … We're not getting blown out every game, so there's light at the end of the tunnel. Just have to break through and turn things around."

Yet, 0-8 is 0-8, and it is again another troubling start to a season for the Wizards, one of the worst offensive teams in the league. Washington is the second team to start consecutive seasons with at least eight consecutive losses (0-8 to start last season), matching the 2001-02 and 2002-03 Memphis Grizzlies who started 0-8 and 0-13.

The Wizards are trying to temper frustration with positive outlooks. It's not easy.

The Wizards have a reasonable chance to win today – and avoid a franchise-worst 0-9 start -– against the struggling Pacers, who are 4-7, including 2-6 of late. They are without injured star forward Danny Granger (left knee).

"It feels different just because we're in the games. We're right there. We just have to get over the hump. We're doing a lot better this year," Wizards second-year forward Chris Singleton said. "I wouldn't wish it upon anybody. It definitely helped me grow up, going through this experience, just going through these rough patches. It's going to make us stronger.

"We're definitely taking it hard. Everybody is taking it personal. We're talking about basketball a lot more than we were last year. We want to win. We know it's our fault."

Washington has lost its eight games without point guard John Wall (left knee injury) and center Nene (plantar fasciitis in left foot), but Nene cautioned Sunday that he and Wall are not saviors.

"They need to believe," Nene said. "I cannot put faith in everyone. They need to believe in themselves first. Believe in the team and the organization and the direction we're taking. Everybody is a pro here.

"When we're back we're not going to be the miracle. We're going to be two more helps on the court."

Nene continues to relay his message: "We just need to continue to work and the sunshine will come."

On defense, the Wizards are average -– 14th in points allowed per 100 possessions (100).

For the sunshine to break through, they need to improve offensively. The offensive numbers are alarming and in need of significant improvement. Guard Jordan Crawford is the leading scorer at 12.4 points per game -- the lowest scoring average to lead any team this season. (The lowest last season: Guard Marco Belinelli leading the New Orleans Hornets at 11.8 points per game. Belinelli is with the Chicago Bulls this season.)

Other Wizards numbers:

• They are last in points per game (86.6) and last in points per 100 possessions (90.9)
• They are last in shooting percentage (40.1%) and 25th in three-point shooting percentage (31%).
• Not one regular rotation player is shooting better than 50% from the field.
• Just three players – forward Jan Vesely, forward Cartier Martin and center-forward Earl Barron -– are on the positive side in plus-minus, a measure of points scored by a team vs. points allowed by a team while a player is on the floor.

"We're a better shooting team than we're showing. I believe that. We're not the worst-shooting team in the league but we are right now," Wizards coach Randy Wittman said.

Wittman looked for answers Saturday against the Utah Jazz and started Vesely and Crawford for forward Trevor Booker and rookie guard Bradley Beal. The Wizards lost 83-76, the fifth time they scored 85 points or less. They also gave up 26 offensive rebounds which led to 22 second-chance points for the Jazz.

"I thought (we) got off to a great start. We executed," Wittman said. "We moved the ball, then we kind of, as I like to say, from an offensive (standpoint), we started taking shortcuts. Instead of this cut being from here to here, it was from here to here. That's where our slides comes from – not being productive offensively sometimes."

Sunday, the Wizards returned to practice with a focus on the small details that make an offense work -– a well-set screen, proper spacing, crisp ball movement. Wittman went through a video session with players before going on the court.

"We've got to get better offensively," Wittman said. "We worked offensively -– execution, spacing, all the little things you have to do that sometimes you don't really think matter. Get them to understand that it does matter ... Sometimes, it's the difference between getting a good shot and not good shots.

"I know I sound like a redundant record, but … (we're) doing some good things … doing a lot of good things, except what matters most, winning."

Here is a list of the 10 teams being led in scoring with the lowest averages:

• Wizards G Jordan Crawford -- 12.4 ppg
• Nuggets F Andre Iguodala -- 14.2 ppg
• Pacers F David West -- 14.9 ppg
• Timberwolves C Nikola Pekovic -- 15.3 ppg
• Hawks F Josh Smith -- 15.6 ppg
• Jazz F Paul Millsap -- 15.7 ppg
• Magic F Arron Afflalo -- 16.3 ppg
• Suns G Goran Dragic -- 16.3 ppg
• Hornets F Ryan Anderson -- 16.4 ppg
• Pistons C Greg Monroe -- 16.8 ppg