Star big man Anthony Davis returned to action on Monday in Detroit after missing the Wizards’ previous two games with a right ankle sprain and had his best individual performance since he joined the team, recording 44 points (on 16-of-21 shooting) and 13 rebounds in 34 minutes.
However, the 33-year-old forward/center wasn’t in a celebratory mood afterward as the Wizards lost their fourth straight game. Davis singled out the team’s defense as the primary culprit for the four-game skid, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic (free link).
“Everything,” Davis said. “We’re not rebounding. We’re giving up open 3s. We’re fouling. We’re not guarding the ball. So, it’s everything. Transition. It’s everything right now.”
Here’s more on the Wizards:
- In a feature story for The Athletic (free link), Robbins spoke to former No. 1 overall picks Davis, Patrick Ewing (now a Wizards assistant coach), Deandre Ayton, John Wall, Cade Cunningham and Paolo Banchero about what advice they’d give to AJ Dybantswho was the top pick in June’s draft. “You have to stay humble, put in the work and continue to believe in yourself,” Ewing said. “I don’t care what pick you are. You’re going to have highs, and you’re going to have lows. You can’t get too high when things are going well, but you also cannot get too low. The guy that we have is a special talent. To be the first pick, you are a special talent. But you have to continue to do all the things that got you to be the No. 1 pick. Things are going to be rough at points. Things are going to be great at points. But stay even-keeled and just keep on working and keep on believing in yourself.”
- Both Wall and Banchero advised Dybantsa to “be yourself” and while staying open-minded about ways to improve. Cunningham said he’d tell Dybantsa to focus on himself rather than his fellow 2026 draftees, per Robbins. “Just run your own race,” Cunningham said. “A lot of times, you see other guys in your same class where things might be going their way. In my case, my rookie year was rough, and we didn’t win many games. Seeing other guys from my class winning and enjoying all of that, there were times when I felt like, ‘Man, that’s supposed to be me.’ But it took me realizing that I just had to stay on my own course and figure it out, and then everything would come my way. So, I’d say just stay in your own lane and absorb as much as you can from your vets and just believe in who you are and what got you to that point to being the No. 1 pick.”
- Robbins of The Athletic (free link) recently shared 10 thoughts about the team’s first 10 games of the season. The article was released prior to Monday’s game, when the Wizards dropped to 4-7.