Anthony Davis (right) finishes with 34 points and 12 rebounds while Trae Young adds 20 points and 13 assists.
WASHINGTON – For the first time since acquiring both players last season, Trae Young and Anthony Davis were on the court together for the Washington Wizards in a regular-season game.
They showed why there is excitement surrounding the Wizards.
Both recorded double-doubles – 34 points and 12 rebounds for Davis and 20 points and 13 assists for Young – and Washington defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 128-116 Wednesday in the season opener for both teams.
Washington took over in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Bucks 38-23 in the final 12 minutes.
Eight Wizards scored at least eight points, including six in double figures. Kyshawn George had 18 points, Bilal Coulibaly and Deandre Ayton each scored 11 and Bub Carrington contributed 10.
“I was really pleased because it really was a team win,” said Wizards coach Brian Keefe. “There were so many guys who stepped up in different moments and that’s what we’re going to need.”
Tyler Herro led the Bucks with 24 points.
Here are key takeaways from the Wizards’ season-opening victory.
1. Davis shines in Wizards debut
Before Wednesday, Davis last played in an NBA game in January when he was with the Dallas Mavericks. He never played for the Wizards due to injuries after they acquired him in a trade.
Davis gave the home crowd reason to believe in the team’s potential, scoring 10 points and grabbing six rebounds in his eight-minute stint to open the game and dropping 18 points in the third quarter. He tied Antawn Jamison (2004) for most points in a Wizards debut.
“It felt great,” Davis said. “It’s been nine months since I played a real game, so it felt really good to be out on the floor and compete again with these guys – even better when you can get the win. I had so much fun tonight and a lot of emotion and a lot of energy.”
He also had four assists, two steals and one block and was 11-for-14 from the free-throw line.
Twice when Davis went to the free-throw line for and-1 attempts, the crowd chanted “M-V-P, M-V-P.”
“I just knew he was going to be ready, and I wasn’t surprised by what he did tonight,” Young said. “I don’t want to put too much pressure on him, but for me having a guy like that, I want to help him get to MVP. Nights like tonight and we continue to win games, he’s going to be in the conversation.”
2. As expected, Young in control of offense
Like Davis, Young was limited due to injuries last season, appearing in just 15 games – five with the Wizards after they acquired him from the Atlanta Hawks.
“It has felt like forever playing a regular-season game,” Young said. “Five games in a season isn’t normal for me, especially just for one team.”
He was just 4-for-13 from the field and missed his six 3-point attempts. But his 12 made free throws were part of Washington’s 32-19 advantage from the foul line and he committed just one turnover. In the fourth quarter, Young had five points and six assists.
“He draws a crowd,” Davis said. “They were putting two on the ball with him and he was making the right passes. DA benefited a lot from it, myself, Alex (Sarr) with some lobs. Anytime you’re putting two on the ball with a guy who can pass like that and who has a very high IQ in Trae Young, he’s going to pick you apart. And it’s our job to get in the right places to get him outlets and then we just play from there.”
3. No Dybantsa for the Wizards
Washington rookie AJ Dybantsa missed the season opener with a sprained left ankle sustained in the team’s final preseason game against New Orleans.
Wizards coach Brian Keefe said Dybantsa remains day-to-day on the injury report, and Dybantsa, who scored in double figures in all four games, could make his debut Friday at home against the Toronto Raptors.
“He wants to be out there so bad,” Davis said.
4. Bucks on season-long quest to measure progress
Game Recap: Wizards 128, Bucks 116
The Bucks officially began the post-Giannis Antetokounmpo era with two 2026 lottery picks (Brayden Burries, Nate Ament), players from Miami in the Antetokounmpo trade (Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware and Kasparas Jakucionis) and veterans (Kyle Kuzma, Myles Turner, Gary Trent Jr. and Caris LeVert).
“There’s a lot of things involved in what we’re going to measure,” said Bucks coach Taylor Jenkins. “We’re still defining that right now (and) trying to figure out our style of play. Are we grasping how we want to create our advantages on offense and defensively what are going to be our priorities with protecting the paint and the 3-point line?
“Then by the end of the year, can we see that we made extreme progress in corporate knowledge knowing what our identity is going to be?”
Burries had 12 points and five rebounds in his NBA debut, and Ament did not play.
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Jeff Zillgitt has covered the NBA since 2008. You can email him at jzillgitt@nba.com, find his archive here and follow him on X.