The Washington Wizards had a front-row seat to the Trae Young reunion in their first crack at the Atlanta Hawks, but the bigger story came from the same old issues that keep showing up in Washington losses. The Hawks walked away with the edge on the glass, the Wizards’ offense bogged down for long stretches, and a few encouraging individual performances still weren’t enough to cover the gaps.
Anthony Davis and Kyshawn George each turned in 20-plus point nights, but Washington still couldn’t find enough consistent offense around them. Young, facing the team that dealt him to Washington at last year’s trade deadline, had trouble getting the attack moving, and that sluggish stretch helped expose the same problems that have followed the Wizards into a fourth loss in eight games.
The rebounding margin was the loudest one. Washington got beaten badly on the offensive glass, with Atlanta grabbing 19 offensive rebounds to the Wizards’ nine.
Dyson Daniels was a major part of that damage, collecting seven offensive boards by himself. On Washington’s side, Davis, Alex Sarr and Deandre Ayton combined for five.
Head coach Brian Keefe isn’t sounding alarms yet, even as the Wizards sit dead last in offensive rebounding. He pointed to what he sees as progress over the last week, even after another night where the glass tilted too far the other way. “Last two games, terrific rebounding, I think you saw the adjustments we made.”
The Wizards have framed the rebounding issue as a matter of effort and finishing possessions, but the problem becomes harder to ignore when the schedule stiffens. That challenge is coming soon, with a four-game road trip looming, and the need for urgency only grows when a team is already giving away extra possessions.
Washington also ran into the same offensive limitation that has made wins hard to stack: when the stars aren’t carrying the load, the rest of the group has to create more. Davis provided scoring through a mix of isolation work and tip-ins, but Daniels’ pressure on Young helped stall the offense for long stretches.
That’s where the supporting cast is supposed to matter, and on this night, the absence of that extra punch stood out. George and AJ Dybantsa are the kinds of wings who can change the flow, but Washington didn’t get enough from them during one especially lopsided stretch. With Tre Johnson still fighting his efficiency, and Bilal Coulibaly and Ayton not forcing defenses to respect them as floor-spacing threats, it gets tougher to keep both rising starters on the floor at the same time while Young continues to struggle and the team keeps taking so few 3s.
Johnson, in particular, couldn’t provide the bench spark Washington needed. He played just 14 minutes after checking in early, and his season-long issues with quick-trigger shooting continue to drag down his value. His 3-point percentage is now well below 30%.
Will Riley got a longer look and made the most of the opportunity in terms of minutes, even if the box score stayed quiet. With Justin Champagnie sidelined by a foot fracture and Khris Middleton offering an ineffective scoring profile, Riley was able to stretch his usual four- or five-minute run into a season-high 12-plus minutes. Keefe said Riley gave Washington a spark off the bench, and he was one of three players to log 10-plus minutes without finishing with a negative plus-minus, despite not scoring.
Riley’s game is built differently from Johnson’s. He’ll spot up from deep, but he’s not nearly as aggressive hunting his own shot. Last season, he earned some attention from Wizards fans with his ability to attack the paint and kick out to open shooters, and this version of the roster gives him a different kind of test against physical defenders.
Keefe’s decision to give Riley a shot fits the broader search for another usable piece in the rotation. The Wizards are still looking for a 10th contributor who can help spell a healthy lineup, add some disruption, and bring a little more spacing when the offense starts to bog down.
In Other News...
Trae Youngs New Wizards Role Gets Tested In A Game That Matters
Washington has spent the early part of the season getting encouraging signs from its primary starters, with Anthony Davis and AJ Dybantsa both helping set a more stable tone. Now the spotlight shifts to Trae Young, whose arrival from Atlanta was supposed to bring a different kind of value to the roster. Rather than being asked to carry everything, he is expected to settle into a part-time playmaking mentor role, a different assignment for a player long used to being the engine.
The timing makes the matchup with the Hawks especially interesting, because it puts Young in a game that carries more weight than a typical early-season meeting. For the Wizards, it is a chance to see how his experience translates in a setting that matters, while also adjusting to the ripple effects of a roster that has changed around him. There is also a broader layer to the night with other familiar names in the mix, which only adds to the sense that this one has more history attached to it than most November games. [Read more 🡒]
Wizards Title Hopes May Depend On Trae Young Making One Change
The Wizards long-term ceiling may come down to how Trae Young adapts alongside rookie AJ Dybantsa, and that starts with Young doing more damage away from the ball. Washington brought in a high-usage guard who has spent most of his career dictating every possession, but the fit the front office is chasing is different now, with Dybantsa emerging as a potential centerpiece and the team looking for a two-man game that can stress defenses in more than one way.
Dybantsa has already given the organization reason to believe the pairing can work, even in the early stages of his first NBA stretch. For Washington, the appeal is obvious: if Young can turn himself into a credible off-ball threat, it would open the floor for Dybantsas development and give the Wizards a cleaner path toward the kind of offensive balance that matters when the games get bigger. [Read more 🡒]
Wizards Defense Is Giving Fans A Real Reason To Believe
The early-season conversation around Washington has shifted in a hurry, and for once it starts on the defensive end. A group that was buried by opponents a year ago has become one of the leagues more disruptive units, with veteran additions helping steady the floor and young players such as Kyshawn George, Justin Champagnie and Bilal Coulibaly taking real steps forward. It is the kind of progress that changes how a team is viewed, especially for a roster still trying to build an identity.
There is also a more intriguing layer to it now, because the Wizards have found stretches where their defense looks even sharper when certain pieces are on the court together. Injuries and role changes have kept that combination from showing up as often as the team would like, but the underlying trend is hard to ignore. For a franchise that has spent so long searching for signs of traction, the defensive leap alone is enough to make the rest of the season worth watching closely. [Read more 🡒]