AJ Dybantsa’s first night in D.C. gave the Wizards exactly the jolt they were looking for.
In a 95-79 rematch win over the Charlotte Hornets to open NBA Cup play, Washington got a lively debut from the summer’s top prospect and a much-needed answer to some early-season concerns. The rookie came in after missing the preseason finale and waiting a week to join his regular-season teammates, and his arrival mattered on a night when the Wizards were still trying to smooth out the rough edges in their offense and on the glass.
Dybantsa finished with 17 points on five baskets, plus eight rebounds, and the Wizards improved to 3-3. The Hornets, who had beaten Washington earlier this week, had 20-point efforts from Anthony Davis and Trae Young, but the return trip to the Cup court belonged to the home side.
The No. 1 pick showed why the hype has followed him from the start. He pushed the pace, helped Washington get out in transition and made the kind of quick-hit plays that turn a stagnant offense into something easier to live with. When leakouts didn’t lead directly to fouls, the Wizards still found clean looks at the rim, and that burst became especially important before the threes started to fall in the game-turning third quarter.
After one of his putback dunks was wiped away on a basket interference call, Dybantsa answered right back with an acrobatic finish through contact and a mean mug to match. He also helped Washington nearly win the rebounding battle, a notable development after Moussa Diabate had given them trouble again.
The scoring line wasn’t as eye-catching as his 19-point debut, but the impact showed up in the flow of the game. Washington needed a wing to step forward after its recent loss in Charlotte, and Dybantsa filled that role.
Brandon Miller came up just short of matching him in the box score, finishing with 19 points after a 29-point outburst against the Wizards earlier in the week. This time, though, his shooting abandoned him, as he went 7-for-24.
Washington’s win also came with a familiar wrinkle: the Wizards attempted only 30 3-pointers, while Charlotte fired up 57. That gap has become a regular part of their profile, win or lose. The team’s low volume from deep is tied to Davis’ preference for isolation scoring and the number of frontcourt and wing players competing for minutes, while Trae Young has generally been the lone player taking threes every night.
Head coach Brian Keefe addressed the issue after the game, pointing to timely makes while also emphasizing Washington’s interior strengths, including finishing at the rim and drawing free throws.
Tre Johnson was the most obvious candidate to help stretch the floor, but the early returns from beyond the arc have been uneven. He’s shooting 33.3% from 3-point range through the first week and a half of the regular season, and Keefe kept his minutes under 13 in this one. Johnson has only made three of his 16 long-range attempts this season, with his lone 20-point game coming in his second outing against the Toronto Raptors, when he went 4-for-8 from deep.
For now, Washington is leaning on other sources of offense while the staff works through the spacing effects of the double-big look. That means more nights where a heat-check stretch from Kyshawn George matters.
There’s also the Cup angle. The Wizards didn’t have to wait nearly as long for their first tournament win this season as they did last year, and they avoided the even rougher stretches before that, when they had no seeding success at all. They still haven’t reached the knockout round, but this one gives them an early edge in the race.
That matters because Washington won’t host another Play-In-style matchup until Nov. 24, when it gets the Boston Celtics. For now, the Wizards are the clear favorite in East Group C after already handling the Chicago Bulls in Boston, and this win over Charlotte put them in position to make a real run at advancement.
It doesn’t promise anything yet, but it gives the Wizards something they’ve been missing for a while: a meaningful step forward in tournament play, with Dybantsa already looking like a central part of what comes next.
In Other News...
Anthony Davis Is Forcing A Much Bigger Wizards Decision
Anthony Davis has already given the Wizards plenty to think about, and not just because of the way he has fit on the floor. Since arriving from Dallas in a trade that cost Washington multiple draft picks, he has been steady and productive, averaging 22.3 points and 9.2 rebounds in his first six games with the team. For a franchise trying to build something more stable, that kind of early return has a way of changing the conversation fast.
The bigger question now is whether Washington wants to move quickly on a contract extension while Davis is still in the final guaranteed year of his deal, with a player option for the following season. The Wizards are weighing that decision against the reality that his presence has already raised the floor of the roster, and the longer he keeps producing like this, the more pressure there will be to make a long-term commitment. [Read more 🡒]
Wizards Need More Than AJ Dybantsa Momentum In NBA Cup Debut
AJ Dybantsa gave Washington a needed jolt in his NBA debut, and the rookies 19 points on efficient shooting offered a glimpse of the energy this roster has been searching for. But the Wizards are still sitting at 2-3 after back-to-back losses to Charlotte and Cleveland, and the bigger issue remains the same: they are not consistently winning the possession battle, especially on the glass, where the frontcourt has been stretched thin.
The timing makes the problem even harder to ignore with Justin Champagnie out after a foot fracture, leaving Washington with fewer answers in the rotation and less margin for error inside. The Wizards have shown they can get a spark from young talent, but until they find a way to rebound and hold up defensively against bigger scoring nights from opponents, the early momentum around Dybantsa will only tell part of the story. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Face An Early Test As Wizards Hype Starts Building
AJ Dybantsa is set to make his home debut for the Wizards in an NBA Cup Group Play matchup with the Hornets, giving Washington another chance to put its early-season buzz in front of its own crowd. Dybantsa already gave a glimpse of what he can bring when he returned from a left ankle sprain and immediately looked like a player ready to matter in the rotation.
The timing adds a little extra intrigue for a Wizards team trying to build momentum while Charlotte arrives with its own early-season questions. The matchup also has the feel of a game where points may be at a premium, with both teams having leaned toward lower-scoring outings so far and the Cup setting only sharpening the stakes. [Read more 🡒]