Anthony Davis just dropped 34 in his Wizards debut. AJ Dybantsa still sits. Now 1-0 Washington gets its first real gut-check: Kawhi Leonard's Raptors and their swarming, turnover-hunting defense.
The opener felt electric. But it took a 21-4 fourth-quarter run to get past a rebuilding Bucks team. Toronto came out of its opener rolling, so tonight is the first real read on whether this new-look group is legit.
Davis went 11-of-20 with 34 points and 12 boards against Milwaukee. The 34 points tied Antawn Jamison (Nov. 3, 2004) for the most in a Wizards debut. It was his first game since Jan. 8.
AJ Dybantsa (left ankle sprain, from the preseason finale vs. New Orleans) is OUT for the second straight game. Coach Brian Keefe calls him day-to-day and doesn't expect him to miss much time. His next chance is Saturday at Chicago.
The Raptors got Leonard back in a Sept. 14 trade, and he opened with 23 points (11-of-11 FT) and four steals as Toronto beat Chicago 135-92 and never trailed. The Raptors forced 27 Bulls turnovers.
Washington made only 21.4% of its threes against Milwaukee and won anyway by living in the paint (70 points) and at the line (32-of-41). It shot 63% after halftime. Against a better defense, that margin for error shrinks.
Toronto ranked 4th in opponent turnover rate last season (16.1%), per The Athletic's Josh Robbins, and just took the ball away 27 times against Chicago. Trae has to keep it clean (1 turnover in the opener) and the wings can't give the ball away.
Robbins notes the Raptors were 16th in defensive-rebounding percentage last year and don't have a lot of height. Davis, Sarr and Ayton should feast on the offensive boards. At the other end, keep Toronto from doing what Milwaukee did (13 offensive rebounds).
Washington got good looks on Wednesday and missed 18 of its first 22 threes. Greg Finberg's game-day ask: "make open looks, especially from three, and protect the paint."
The Bucks led for much of the night until the 21-4 fourth-quarter run. Spotting Toronto three quarters is a different ask.
The size war. Washington's edge is in the paint. Toronto's answer is Poeltl plus a lot of long, switchable forwards.
Point-of-attack pressure. Trae went 0-for-6 from three but got to the line 16 times in the opener. Can he hold up against Toronto's ball pressure?
The wing test. In Finberg's words, this is a "good test for Kyshawn and Bilal against some very talented two-way players." When Chase Hughes asked Davis about Coulibaly's defensive ceiling, Hughes says AD "started naming players he can/could guard and it was a bunch of superstars."
⚠️ Unofficial. These are projections from RotoWire and FantasyData (they list the same five for each team, with slightly different positions). Official starters had not been posted as of 3:00 PM ET. They usually come out about 30 minutes before tip.
WizardsTrae YoungGBilal CoulibalyG/FKyshawn GeorgeG/FAnthony DavisF/C
Alex SarrF/CRaptorsImmanuel QuickleyPG
RJ BarrettSGKawhi LeonardSFScottie BarnesFJakob PoeltlC| Team | Player | Status | Injury |
|---|---|---|---|
| WAS | AJ Dybantsa | OUT | Left ankle sprain |
| WAS | Felix Okpara | QUESTIONABLE | Illness |
| WAS | Tristan Vukcevic | OUT | Left hip impingement |
| WAS | Jamir Watkins | OUT | Left ACL repair (season) |
| TOR | Nate Bittle | OUT | Right foot avulsion fracture |
| TOR | Malachi Smith | OUT | G League two-way |
"Match Toronto's intensity: The Raptors, who trounced the Bulls on Wednesday 135-92, can overwhelm teams with their pressure and activity. Toronto features a pair of defensively dominant players, Scottie Barnes and Kawhi Leonard."
"Big test tonight for the Wizards against a talented Raptors team. Wiz can't play the way they did for the first three quarters of Wednesday's game and expect to win. Have to make open looks, especially from three, and protect the paint."
"Most interesting thing tonight I'm looking at is how we handle the Raptors ball pressure It's going to seperate the kids from the adults"
"We win this game (and most) if we play every quarter with the intensity we played with in the fourth quarter"
"Who will lead in scoring tonight against the Toronto Raptors? I'll say Alex Sarr bounces back from game 1"
"If anyone on here will be at the game tonight, let me know how the atmosphere is. It was incredible on Wednesday 👀"
"Trae Young is back to being one of the best point guards in the NBA, if not the BEST pure point guard in basketball. And this was just Game 1 with the Washington Wizards."
Bonus: inside the Trae/AD-organized offseason mini-camp in L.A. (Chase Hughes) · PFTCommenter on the mic (@WashWizards). Thumbnails and run times come from X's media data. Tap through to watch on X.
What the Wizards' flagship radio stations have been talking about, plus how to listen in before tip.
Video segments from @1067theFan and @team980, posted Oct 22–23. Captions paraphrase each post; tap through for the segment.
The books and models lean Toronto. ESPN's Matchup Predictor gave Washington 35%, and ESPN showed TOR −8.5 when we checked (lines move). We think it's closer than that. Washington has the size edge, the crowd and Davis. If the Wizards keep turnovers in the low teens and shoot even league-average from three, this is a coin flip. If Toronto's pressure turns it into a track meet, Kawhi and the Raptors run away with it.
Our gut: Wizards in a close one, and a big night on the glass from Davis. Pure vibes; we have no model behind it.