Dwight Howard was finding room to work in the painting, shots were falling from outside and the Washington Wizards finally seemed to have a solution.

For about three minutes. Then the wheels went wild against the Thunder of Oklahoma City.

Washington immediately broke down, took a double-digit lead and fell behind big before being booed at halftime. He finally ended with a discouraging defeat between 134-111 that left a team that was already publicly known as 1-7 and was rising positively.

Howard made his debut in the season and initially seemed to be the spark that sorcerers needed. He had a nudge and shot a foul for a 3-point play on Washington's first possession. Howard made his first six shots and scored 13 points in nine minutes in the first quarter.

"I thought we had a good start, obviously Dwight was a bright spot," said Wizards coach Scott Brooks. "We were hoping that he would come in and set the tone, and I thought he'd done it."

The big veteran, who started his 15th season, finished with 20 points and shot 7 times out of 8 and 6 out of 8 of the foul line. He looked cool after missing the first seven games of the season with a contracted muscle in the buttocks. He started and played 23 minutes.

Howard's early impact was quickly squandered.

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The Wizards hit their first seven field shots to take a 17-7 lead with 8:52 left in the first. But the Thunder responded with eight quick points to shoot in the space of two, then scored the last nine of the quarter for a 35-30 lead.

"They had layups after layups, 3 wide open," said John Wall, who had 19 points and nine assists for the Wizards. "They did what they wanted."

Wall added, "It looks like nobody is on the same page."

Washington would not sniff his head once again while Oklahoma City was blowing things up with a second quarter to 44 points. The Wizards returned the ball more than 14 times in the first half and fired 3 times out of 12 in the long range.

Thunder pushed the lead to 12 in the first three minutes of the second quarter and 21 in the next five minutes. Paul George made three consecutive 3-point attempts at the end of the second. The latter limited an 8-0 run to close the quarter, allowing the Thunder to score 79-50 at the break and bring out Washington's boo-birds.

Washington is now tied with the Cleveland Cavaliers at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. The Wizards have already rebounded after slow starts, but they understand that they can not afford to step back even in a very open playoff race.

"We have to stay positive, stay focused and not let moments like this kill the atmosphere," Howard said.

Kelly Oubre Jr added, "We are not that bad, I do not believe that in my heart."

Follow Matt Eppers on Twitter @meppers_.