WASHINGTON — After their worst start in history, the Washington Wizards became a national punch line. On TNT, Charles Barkley compared them with the Washington Generals, and a local newspaper had photos of fans wearing paper bags over their heads at Monday’s 26-point loss to San Antonio.
The jokes can stop — at least for now.
Washington earned its first victory after starting the season with 12 straight losses, beating the Portland Trail Blazers 84-82 on Wednesday night.
“When you’re 0-12, guys are going to make fun. That’s our business, guys," Wizards coach Randy Wittman said.
“When you get to this level, you’ve got to have some thick skin, and you’ve got to be able to overcome those kind of things."
Washington survived a scoreless 6:47 in the fourth when Jordan Crawford, who had 19 points, hit on a 3-pointer with 2:06 to play. The Wizards finally took the 84-82 lead on Emeka Okafor’s two free throws with 39.1 seconds remaining.
Damian Lillard was called for traveling with 28 seconds left. After Nene was called for an offensive foul, J.J. Hickson missed a jumper with 2.8 seconds to play. The Wizards lost the ball with 0.2 seconds to go, but held on to end the skid.
“Well, we made it interesting, but we won," Wittman said.
Nine teams started the season 0-13, and the Wizards were tired of the ridicule they’d been subjected to — locally and nationally — as they crept toward the Nets’ NBA record-worst start of 0-18.
“We don’t want to go down in history as one of the worst teams ever," Washington forward Chris Singleton said.
Wittman, whose team travels to New York on Friday and plays Miami next Tuesday, knows the next win may be hard to get.
“We just broke through the ice. I’ve lived in Minnesota for 15, 17 years. That ice was 4 or 5 feet deep, but it’s broken through now," Wittman said.
Trevor Ariza had 14 and Kevin Seraphin added 10 points and 10 rebounds for Washington, which ended the third quarter on a 23-7 run to take a 68-59 lead, then padded its lead to 15 barely three minutes into the fourth.
The 79-64 lead seemed safe — even for the Wizards — but the Trail Blazers ran off 16 straight points to take a 80-79 lead with 2:27 to play.
Lillard and Nicolas Batum led Portland, losers of three straight, with 20. LaMarcus Aldridge had 17. Hickson had 15 points and 19 rebounds.
“Loss is a loss, but this one definitely stings knowing the team is 0-12. You never want to be the team they get the win on but we were that team," Hickson said.
Wesley Matthews addressed the Blazers after his team lost, and all his teammates were especially downcast.
“You don’t want to be the first team, that’s very embarrassing," Batum said.
Martel Webster had also used “embarrassing" to describe Washington’s 26-point loss on Monday. He was a bit relieved after the game.
“We are definitely an underdog. We’re definitely looked at as the losers of the league, but that’s OK. We believe in each other," Webster said.
Rookie Bradley Beal wasn’t celebrating his first NBA win — one that took 29 days to get. He claimed, like most of the Wizards, to ignore the chatter on TV and in the cyber world.
“I don’t pay attention to that stuff. They’re on the outside looking in. They don’t know how hard we work. They just see us playing and the scores," Beal said.
The Blazers hit six of their first seven shots and took a 15-4 lead four minutes into the game.
Nene entered the game with 1:43 to play and helped spur the Wizards to a 37-31 lead with six minutes to play in the first half. At halftime, the teams were tied at 43-all.
Also on Wednesday:
Nets 95
Celtics 83
BOSTON — Joe Johnson scored 18 points, Andray Blatche had 17 points and 13 rebounds, and Brooklyn beat Boston after Rajon Rondo was ejected following a fight.
Thunder 120
Rockets 98
OKLAHOMA CITY — Kevin Durant matched his season high with 37 points, and Oklahoma City beat Houston in James Harden’s first game back at Chesapeake Energy Arena since being traded by the Thunder before the season.
Bulls 101
Mavericks 78
CHICAGO — Luol Deng had 22 points and six rebounds to lead Chicago over Dallas.
Grizzlies 103
Raptors 82
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Marreese Speights had 18 points and 12 rebounds to help Memphis beat Toronto for its third straight win.
Knicks 102
Bucks 88
MILWAUKEE — Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points to lead New York past Milwaukee.
Clippers 101
Timberwolves 95
LOS ANGELES — Chris Paul had 23 points and 11 assists, and Los Angeles welcomed Chauncey Billups back to the lineup for the first time this season.
Pistons 117
Suns 77
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Brandon Knight and Charlie Villanueva scored 19 points apiece, and Detroit routed Phoenix to win back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Hawks 94
Bobcats 91
ATLANTA — Al Horford scored 17 points and hit two clinching free throws to help Atlanta beat Charlotte for its sixth straight victory.
Spurs 110
Magic 89
ORLANDO, Fla. — Manu Ginobili had 20 points, Gary Neal scored 19 and San Antonio raced past Orlando for its fifth straight win.
Jazz 96
Hornets 84
NEW ORLEANS — Al Jefferson had 19 points, Marvin Williams scored 16 before leaving with concussion symptoms and Utah won its second straight game by defeating New Orleans.
