AJ Dybantsa finally got his first taste of the NBA on Wednesday night. It went well for him, but the night didn’t end well for the Wizards.
The No. 1 overall pick scored 19 points on 8 of 12 shooting in his NBA debut. Washington led by 10 at halftime, but Cleveland took over in the second half and won 121-111 at Rocket Arena.
Dybantsa had missed the first four games of the season with a sprained ankle he suffered in the preseason finale. He started and played 27 minutes. He scored 9 points in the first quarter and finished 1 of 3 from three and 2 of 2 at the line, with two rebounds and two assists.
A strong first half that didn’t last
Washington came out hot and scored 42 points in the first quarter. The Wizards led 69-59 at the break.
The second half belonged to Cleveland. The Cavaliers outscored Washington 33-23 in the third quarter and 29-19 in the fourth, for a 62-42 edge after halftime.
Evan Mobley led Cleveland with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Peyton Watson added 22, Donovan Mitchell had 19 points and seven assists, and James Harden chipped in 16 points and six assists. Jarrett Allen grabbed 12 rebounds.
Plenty of help, not enough finish
Anthony Davis and Alex Sarr each scored 18 for Washington. Trae Young had 14 points and eight assists, and Kyshawn George handed out 11 assists to go with eight points.
The loss drops the Wizards to 2-3. Cleveland moves to 3-1. According to CBS Sports, Cleveland came into the night with a 16 game winning streak against Washington, and this win extends it.
For Wizards fans, the takeaway is Dybantsa. He played efficient, confident basketball in his first real NBA minutes. Now the Wizards need to put together four good quarters around him.
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