

(By John McDonnell/The Washington Post)

“I didn’t see much of the fourth quarter,” Kevin Sheehan said on ESPN 980’s Redskins postgame show Sunday afternoon. “I turned it to [the Wizards]. They cut a 22-point lead down to one, had multiple chances to take the lead. Now that’s a team that’s actually worth paying attention to.”

“Let me tell you something, that blowout [of] Denver on Friday night, they had me juiced,” host Al Galdi agreed. “I mean, they are a good team. I know they lost at Boston today, but they are a good team.”

“They made a nice run in the fourth quarter after being behind 22, got a couple of bad calls that went against them down the stretch,” said Sheehan, continuing the Wizards talk during the Redskins postgame show.

“We’ll take your calls on John Wall and Bradley Beal later in the show!” Galdi facetiously announced.

“I think that’s what we’re going to do tomorrow morning,” joked Sheehan, who co-hosts a Monday morning Redskins show.

No, tens of thousands of Washingtonians were not turning off the Redskins and flipping on the Wizards on Sunday afternoon. But there is some momentum in the basketballers’ direction.

Through 20 games, Wizards broadcasts on Comcast SportsNet have averaged a 1.30 household rating, according to Nielsen figures. That’s up 46 percent from last year’s average rating at this time, and up 26 percent over last year’s final average rating for Wizards broadcasts. (It’s still not quite as high as the Caps were averaging at the Olympic break last season.)

The two-year increase is even more dramatic: the average household rating is up 60 percent from the 2012-2013 season, which began with a 12-game losing streak.

There will be plenty of comparisons between the Redskins’ failings and the Wizards’ success in coming days; Boz has already gone there, writing that “when you just can’t stand one more word about Griffin and Gruden … you finally have a choice to help you smile through the holidays. The Wizards, gone so long, are finally back. And, probably, worth the attention you pay them.”

But in truth, there is interest in the Wizards even apart from burgundy fatigue. The Wizards are averaging a 0.96 household rating in the Baltimore market, according to Nielsen figures, which is up 82 percent year-to-year.