Wizards vs. Pacers: Washington sets franchise record with ninth straight loss to start season Before the game, Randy Wittman spoke about how he has tried to get his team, featuring players short on confidence, to believe that they can win. It had to be hard for his players to keep the faith when they trailed by 19 points only nine minutes into the game and fell back behind by 20 in the third quarter. But they wouldn't go down easily, rallying back within one point before Pacers forward David West made back-to-back jumpers to shut down the run and give the Wizards a 96-89 loss and a new franchise-record for futility to open a season. The Wizards are now 0-9 for the first time in team history, breaking the previous mark last season, when they lost eight in a row. Rookie Bradley Beal scored a game-high 18 points, Kevin Seraphin had 13 and Shaun Livingston had 10, but Wittman was unable to get much production from his starters, who combined to shoot 8 for 37 from field and scored just 31 points. As a team, the Wizards shot just 35.6 percent, the second game in a row that they failed to shoot at least 40 percent. They were also unable to contain West. West scored a game-high 30 points, responding to every rally with a pull-up jumper, tip-in or bank shot. West also had the support of former Georgetown center Roy Hibbert, who broke out of a season-long slump with his most production game of the season. Hibbert had 20 points on 8-for-10 shooting and added 12 rebounds in the arena he called home for four seasons. The Wizards trailed 26-7 less than nine minutes into the game and were down 32-13 when Pacers reserve Gerald Green made a long jumper over Beal. Agitated fans expressed their frustrations with a chorus of boos, but but every time it seemed that the Pacers would pull away, the Wizards managed to make a run to get back in the game. Trevor Ariza made a jumper and the Wizards trailed 57-48 before the Pacers (5-7) went on 12-1 run to go up 20 with five minutes left in the third period when reserve Ian Mahinmi hit a short hook. Wittman replaced A.J. Price, who had a career-high 14 assists in the last meeting against his former team, with Livingston. In his second game with the team after being picked up last week, Livingston immediately led an inspired charge as he found Beal for three-pointer that ignited a 16-0 run. Livingston again found Beal from the corner, bringing the Wizards within 69-65 and the home fans suddenly started cheering after being silent - or booing - for much of the game. Pacers reserve Tyler Hansbrough answered with a jumper just above the foul line, but Livingston made a runner off the glass as the Wizards trailed by just four after the fourth quarter. Wittman changed his starting lineup in the previous game against Utah, but that unit was mostly ineffective against the Pacers. Jordan Crawford was the only starter to score in double figures but he needed 12 shots, missing 10, to score 11 points. Emeka Okafor had one point and one rebound and Wittman benched him to start the second half in place of Seraphin. The struggles of the starters was summed up in one play in the third quarter, when Crawford drove into the lane, flipped an airball off the rim. Okafor jumped to get the putback but shot an airball over the rim. A.J. Price missed a three-pointer, then Okafor had his shot blocked by Hibbert. Fans started booing again. Wittman left his starters on the bench for the fourth quarter, only calling on Crawford to get back in the game after Trevor Booker (four points, eight rebounds) appeared to injure his foot in the final minute. The Wizards managed to came a game out of contest that appeared to be over from the jump, but they had several regretful moments. Reserve big man Earl Barron made a jumper off the glass to bring the Wizards back within 48-41 with 3.1 seconds left in the second quarter. But he negated the shot by inexplicably running into Pacers guard D.J. Augustin and knocking him down to the ground less than a second later. Augustin made the free throws to give the Pacers a nine-point lead at halftime. Six of their losses had been by seven or fewer points, including an 89-85 loss in Indiana more than two weeks ago. But three weeks into the season, the Wizards still don't have any wins. The Wizards may have squandered their best chance at a win. They don't face a team that currently has a losing record until Dec. 11 in New Orleans. Their next eight games are against teams with records of .500 or better, beginning with their meeting in Atlanta on Wednesday.