AJ Dybantsa sharp in his home debut as the Wizards smother Charlotte 95-79
Washington held the Hornets to 13 points in the third quarter, cruising to a comfortable victory on the first night of NBA Cup play. Anthony Davis had 25 points and 13 rebounds for the Wizards.
Dybantsa wasn't available to start the season because of an ankle injury, but this year's No. 1 overall draft pick finally played Wednesday night, scoring 19 points in a loss at Cleveland. He looked composed again Friday in front of the home fans. Dybantsa had an impressive putback in the fourth quarter negated by a basket interference call. A short while later, he switched hands while driving before banking in a shot while being fouled.
That drew an “MVP! MVP!” chant for the 19-year-old rookie.
The story of this game, however, was Charlotte's atrocious shooting. The Hornets led by 10 in the first quarter after starting 4 of 10 from 3-point range. Then they made four of their next 29 attempts from long range.
Charlotte ended up shooting 29.7% from the field for the game, 12 of 56 from 3-point range. The Hornets are now responsible for the two lowest-scoring games in the NBA this season, having produced 81 points in an Oct. 23 loss to Atlanta.
Brandon Miller led the Hornets with 19 points. Naz Reid was back in the starting lineup for Charlotte after being benched in the second half at Detroit on Wednesday night. Reid had 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The Hornets have been without Kon Knueppel (hamstring) and Coby White (calf) all season so far. Grant Williams (hamstring) has also been out.
Up next
Hornets: Host Philadelphia on Saturday night.
Wizards: At Orlando on Monday night.
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Regular Season Series
Series tied 1-1