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We knew the Wizards would struggle without John Wall and Nene in the lineup to start the season. Even an elite team, which Washington certainly is not, would labor to replace its two best players. Viewing the Wizards through that lens casts them in a more forgiving, sympathetic light.

But the strongest pair of rose-colored glasses can’t obscure the hideous basketball we’ve witnessed for large stretches during Washington’s 0-7 start. The Wizards who suit up and take the floor for coach Randy Wittman have been shockingly awful, among the league’s worst performers by several measures besides wins and losses. All of that wretchedness can’t be attributed to two players’ absence.

“We’ve got to keep fighting,” Wittman told reporters Wednesday night, after Washington became the NBA’s lone winless team. “We haven’t had too many nights where we haven’t fought. Here and there are things that we have to do better and be more consistent at.”

You have to find small victories when actual triumphs are scarce. At least they have mastered that art, opposed to putting the ball in the basket. Except for the sixth game, when they were blown out Tuesday by the Charlotte Bobcats, the Wizards have scratched and clawed their way to narrow defeats, usually after falling behind by large margins.