I thought they were just booing me and then I thought about it — it was the fourth quarter, I was on the free-throw line. They wanted me to miss two so they could get a (free Chick-Fil-A) sandwich. I hope that was all it was anyway. – Jazz power forward Trevor Booker

WASHINGTON — At Sunday’s shootaround, Jazz power forward Trevor Booker smiled when talking about returning to play in front of the Washington Wizards’ fans for the first time as an opponent.

“I’m not sure what kind of reception I’ll get tonight,” said Booker, who played the first four years of his NBA career with Washington. “I’ve never been booed before. They’ve booed some former players when we played them, so I guess we’ll see how it goes tonight.”

Turns out, Booker indeed got booed during the Jazz's 93-84 loss to Washington.

But he also got cheered.

On a couple of humorous instances, the mixed reactions at the Verizon Center happened while he was on the free-throw line with the game on the line in the fourth quarter.

When he was shooting, he got booed.

After missing two of the four freebies, he incited raucous cheers.

“I thought they were just booing me and then I thought about it — it was the fourth quarter, I was on the free-throw line,” he said. “They wanted me to miss two so they could get a (free Chick-Fil-A) sandwich. I hope that was all it was anyway.”

Despite the two missed free throws in the fourth quarter — which denied Wiz fans their free grub — Booker had a solid first game back in Washington. The sixth man scored eight points with nine rebounds even after spraining his ankle and leaving to get his foot retaped.

Overall, the 27-year-old said he enjoyed his time back in D.C., which included a Saturday night reunion dinner with Wizards buddy Kevin Seraphin and the game.

“It felt great,” he said. “Fans, they were shouting my name from the crowd, except when they wanted that Chick-Fil-A.”

Booker was signed to a two-year, $10 million deal (second-year not guaranteed) by the Jazz this past season to help bolster the bench with a big body. He was “not frustrated at all” that the Wizards didn’t keep him around.

“The NBA is a big business. I didn’t expect to stay with the same team my whole career,” Booker said. “I did have fun while I was here. I loved the fans, loved my teammates, but I’ve moved on since then.”

Booker said he might bring up his favorite memory to his struggling teammates, who are 6-17 in this rebuilding season. The Wizards went 23-59 his rookie season, 20-46 his second year and then 29-53 before turning it around with a 44-38 campaign in 2013-14.

“That’s probably our best times here, making the playoffs, especially after struggling after those three years,” he said. “Just making the playoffs and getting to the second round felt good.”

NOTES: Former University of Utah point guard Andre Miller, a 38-year-old who continues to defy time, scored 10 points with three rebounds and three assists off the bench for Washington. … The Jazz held the Wizards to 37 points for the team’s best defensive half this season and second-best half overall. Phoenix only scored 36 points in the second half of Utah’s 118-91 win on Nov. 1. … The Jazz bench was outscored 43-17.

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