LeBron James was making one mistake after another in the third quarter on Friday night, from missing two easy layups to an air ball of a three-point attempt. Then when he kicked the ball out of bounds, it was all but certain at least he was paying nominal regard to the Washington Wizards, who entered as losers of five of their last six.

Pictures in fact surfaced on the Internet of James taking in District nightlife on Thursday into Friday morning, including stops at Cafe Milano in Georgetown and the trendy Shadow Club on K Street.

Studying film of his upcoming opponent’s tendencies? Who needs it? This was the Wizards after all.

Washington almost made James and Dwyane Wade, who accompanied his teammate for at least part of the evening on Thursday, wish they had taken the Wizards more seriously.

“Hey, we did what we could,” Wizards Coach Randy Wittman said. “Did we have breakdowns? Yeah, again I’ve talked the last couple weeks since I’ve been here, we’ll take mistakes that are aggressive, and we’ve had some, got tired, I thought, a little winded, which caused some of our mistakes, too.”

Washington cut the lead to point twice in the third quarter, but each time, Miami countered. In the second instance, the Heat used a 7-2 run to lead 72-65 with 1 minute 9 seconds to play.

The Heat opened the fourth quarter with a a 9-1 run to take an 83-68 lead and never was threatened again.

“It was just one of those nights,” said Wizards guard Nick Young, who scored 22 points. ”We were missing shots we should have made, open threes. We wish we could take those back. Just how the games goes.”

The Wizards did have their moments, including some alley-oop slams from John Wall to center JaVale McGee. Wall also had perhaps his most memorable pass since the Wizards drafted him No. 1 overall in 2010 when he drove deep into the lane and left the ball for McGee with his hands behind his back.

Wall’s stat line was indicative of the Wizards’ night overall. He had 15 points and a game-high 10 assists, but he also committed a game-high seven turnovers.

“We played hard,” said McGee, who had a season-high 24 points and 13 reboounds. “We just couldn’t get them in the long run.”

In addition to having lost six in a row this season, the Washington Wizards have lost their last four consecutive games against Miami, which has lost two of its last five games, including 109-95 to Orlando on Wedensday.

The Wizards, meantime, are coming off a 107-93 loss to the shorthanded New York Knicks on Wednesday at Verizon Center. New York was missing Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire but got 23 points and 10 assists from point guard Jeremy Lin.

John Wall scored a game-high 29 points, and Trevor Booker added 17 on 8-for-11 shooting. Booker is shooting 71 percent from the field over his last two games.

Nick Young had just seven points in 3-for-11 shooting against the Knicks, but the starting guard averaged 27 points in three games against Miami last season. That matched Young’s highest scoring average against any team last season.

“We’re going out to win this game,” Wizards Coach Randy Wittman said. “These were the easy games to play in as a player. I mean these games sell out. These games, hey, this is what it’s all about. Playing in this kind of atmosphere against a quality opponent as we’re playing with Miami. Wow. You look forward to those situations.”

Discuss these topics and tonight’s game in the comments below. You can also join the conversation on Twitter with Gene Wang (@gene_wang) and  Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee).

Tipoff: 7 p.m. TV: Comcast SportsNet; Radio: 106.7 (WJFK FM). Check out a live box score for today’s game here.

John Wall's first home game against the Miami Heat was over after roughly 15 minutes, when he got kicked out for punching the free elbow-swinging center Zydrunas Ilgauskas in the midsection.

The Wizards were still able to hang around as Jordan Crawford exploded for a career-high 39 points, scoring at will with Dwyane Wade and LeBron James taking turns but unable to fully contain him.

But the Wizards' 123-107 loss last March was more competitive than the score would suggest. And an earlier 95-94 loss, which included an epic fourth-quarter collapse on the day Gilbert Arenas was traded, proved how the Wizards never have to search for motivation with James and the Heat in town.

The supposed comforts of home are often absent when the Wizards take the court at Verizon Center, where fans can purchase tickets on the black market for the price of a call from a pay phone, Andray Blatche gets booed every time he touches the ball, and large crowds only come out to support the opposing team.

Can we get a little love at home? (Rob Carr - GETTY IMAGES) Already this season, the Wizards have heard Chicago’s Derrick Rose hear “MVP!” chants, Boston’s Rajon Rondo and Paul Pierce draw loud ovations for curch-time baskets, and New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin – author of a spectacular and stunning three-game run – turn the building into Madison Square Garden South.

While LeBron James has been derided during his visits because of the recent playoff history between Washington and Cleveland, the current Wizards aren’t expected to have much support when he brings the Southeast Division-leading Miami Heat to town on Friday.

“We’ve played enough games, we know what the crowd is going to be,” rookie forward Chris Singleton said. “Seems like they are against us the first three quarters and they’re on our side for the fourth. I guess that’s how Washington is.”

With a 4-11 home record and several dreadful displays of basketball, the Wizards haven’t exactly allowed the locals to cozy up to them. But it doesn’t make it any easier to deal with.

“That’s tough,” Coach Randy Wittman said. “That’s our job to play to have those guys on our side. Everybody that pays a ticket has a right to root for who they want. But obviously, at home, you want the fans on your side. We’re going to get to that and it’s going to be that way some day.”

That day hasn’t arrived.

JaVale McGee attracted attention for the wrong reasons this week, with his mad dash to get back on defense against Toronto — while the Wizards still had the ball — becoming an unfortunate Internet sensation.

But I’m really trying here. (Jonathan Newton - WASHINGTON POST) But the bizarre sequence — which included him missing a swooping hook shot, John Wall inviting him to come back into the play, then missing a terrible lob from Wall and falling to the ground — has also demonstrated how much McGee has been struggling since the calendar switched to February.

McGee came on strong near the end of the January, grabbing at least 10 rebounds in three of the last four games, and becoming the first Wizard since Gheorghe Muresan to have two games with at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots in the same month.

But in five games this month, McGee is averaging 6.8 points on just 40.5 percent shooting, 6.6 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 4.2 fouls. He has yet to grab at least 10 rebounds in six games and has gone five games without scoring at least 10 points.