Wizards Lose Home Crowd to Jeremy Lin
When the Wizards get trounced at home, the fans at Verizon Center usually to hit the exits early or send them to the locker room to a chorus of boos. But after the Wizards’ disconcerting 107-93 loss on Wednesday against the undermanned New York Knicks, most of the 17,376 fans in attendance stuck around, stood up and applauded — Jeremy Lin and the Knicks.
It was a troubling scene for the woeful Wizards, who haven’t given their fans much to rally behind and allowed their home arena to morph into Madison Square Garden South. The Wizards are used to feeling like guests when the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston, Chicago and now Miami Heat come to town. But even as Kobe Bryant and Derrick Rose have heard “MVP!” chants, nothing compared to the reaction of the audience with the Knicks — and especially, everybody’s favorite underdog, Lin — in town.
You’d think fans would be upset that Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire were gone and want a refund for their tickets. Instead, they only booed when Lin picked up his second foul in the first quarter and was forced to head to the bench with his second foul. Other than that, the Wizards were simply a distraction until the next Lin layup or high-rising bank shot, Tyson Chandler dunk or Steve Novak three-pointer.
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