CHARLOTTE — Twice in the fourth quarter Wednesday night, as his Washington Wizards were in the midst of a historic meltdown in a 101-87 loss at Time Warner Cable Arena, Coach Randy Wittman implored his players to lift their heads up during timeouts. He told them they were still in the game even as they shot brick after brick and the Charlotte Hornets made their shots. He told them they could salvage a road victory over a quality opponent. There was still time.  The Wizards, however, couldn’t reverse the momentum. They had entered the fourth quarter with a seven-point advantage, and it all fell apart with the worst offensive quarter in franchise history. The Wizards shot 1 for 20, missing 17 straight field goal attempts over the final 10 minutes 13 seconds, and allowed 25 straight points during one stretch en route to their second double-digit loss in two nights and their fifth of the season.  They were outscored 27-6 in the fourth quarter, their lowest scoring output in a fourth quarter in franchise history and tied for the fewest points in any quarter, a mark that was first set by the Wizards in a second quarter against the Orlando Magic in 2009.  “We start feeling sorry, start pouting and putting our heads down,” Wittman said. “It just becomes a snowball.  “We got to grow up in that aspect of it. Shot doesn’t go in, it doesn’t go in. That’s the game. Makes, misses. That’s the game, but you never give in to it, and we haven’t gotten over that. It’s been that way for the last couple years. Guys don’t play well, they put their heads down. We feel sorry for ourselves.  “Nobody’s going to feel sorry. They’re not going to feel sorry for you.”  For 38 minutes, the Wizards (6-6) performed how they aspire to every night. They were shooting the ball efficiently and getting out in transition. They were not turning the ball over at an astounding rate. They were defending a potent offense competently. Washington peaked in the third quarter as the formula produced a 17-2 spurt and its biggest lead of the evening with 9:53 remaining in the fourth.  The lead promptly shrunk to five before starting guards John Wall and Bradley Beal returned with 7:18 left as the Hornets countered with the 25-0 spree that lasted until Gary Neal made two free throws with 23.1 seconds left.  “I feel like we can’t have me and Brad sitting,” said Wall, who finished with 14 points on 6-for-18 shooting with six assists, six steals, five rebounds and five turnovers. “That’s just my opinion. Coach makes the decision he feels is best for us.  “I just feel like one of us has to be in in that situation because when you’re on the road, this is the time when you can step on them.”  After starting 0-3, Charlotte improved to 9-6 and 7-1 at home. The Hornets had six players score in double figures, headed by Jeremy Lamb’s 18 points off the bench, and went 15 for 15 from the free throw line.  Neal led Washington in scoring for the consecutive straight night with 18 points but was just 1 for 7 during Washington’s meltdown. Marcin Gortat contributed 17 points and 12 rebounds. Beal added 17 points on 6-for-16 shooting.  For the second straight game, after a blowout loss to the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday, the Wizards faced a team in the midst of a similar drastic small-ball makeover that has generated significantly better offensive production.  Charlotte entered Wednesday ranked fourth in the NBA in offensive efficiency (105.5 points per 100 possessions) after ranking 28th last season (97.6). The Hornets are following the league-wide trend of creating more space by putting a three-point threat at power forward and shooting a lot more three-pointers: After finishing 24th in the league in three-point attempts last season at 19.1, the Hornets began Wednesday sitting sixth at 26.6 tries this season. On Wednesday, they went 4 for 7 in the first quarter but made just 4 of 19 the rest of the way as they committed 19 turnovers after entering the night averaging a league-low 11.8 per game.  But Washington couldn’t capitalize on the giveaways. Neal and Nene were the only Wizards to score in the fourth quarter as Washington went 0 for 7 from three-point range and 4 for 6 from the free throw line. The Hornets packed the paint and dared the Wizards to make shots over them, and Washington couldn’t.  “I don’t think we were aggressive enough,” said Beal, who declined to comment on whether he agreed with Wittman’s assessment of the team’s body language in the fourth quarter. “I don’t think we got to the basket. I don’t think we were taking the shots that we wanted. We were taking what they were giving us instead getting what we needed.”  Jorge Castillo writes about the Washington Wizards.
Charlotte scores 25 straight points during a stretch of the final quarter as Washington falls, 101-87, to move back to .500.