The Washington Wizards’ skid kept rolling Wednesday night in Indiana, and Trae Young ended up at the center of one of the game’s most frustrating moments.
Trae Young stopped playing defense MID POSSESSION to complain to the refs and gave up an open shot 😭 pic.twitter.com/dinyGkCOJz
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) November 12, 2026
Washington took a road loss to the Pacers, extending its current five-game losing streak, and Young’s night was a mixed bag at best. He shot relatively efficiently, but he didn’t give the Wizards the kind of playmaking punch fans are used to seeing from him.
The sequence that drew the most attention came on defense. Young stopped in the middle of live action to complain to the referee, and that pause left Andrew Nembhard wide open for a jumper. Nembhard knocked it down without much trouble.
It was the kind of clip that feeds the long-running criticism of Young on that end of the floor. The issue, as fans have seen for years dating back to his time with the Atlanta Hawks, isn’t just the physical limitations. Too often, the concern has been the lack of focus and effort layered on top of them.
That has become a bigger problem for Washington as its defense has slipped during the losing streak. The Wizards opened the season reasonably well on that side of the ball, but those numbers have started to fall off, and Young isn’t making up for it enough on offense to justify the trade-off.
There have been other moving parts, too. Rookie AJ Dybantsa has shown the usual ups and downs that come with a first season in the league, while Anthony Davis has continued to give Washington solid minutes when he’s on the floor.
The schedule doesn’t offer much relief. Washington is back on the court Thursday night at home against the Detroit Pistons, with tipoff set for 7:00 pm ET.
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