WASHINGTON — It took about 21 minutes of Thursday night’s game, but trey youngThe moment of welcome to DC came in spectacular fashion.
After receiving a pass behind the 3-point line and pumping his defender to jump past him, Young drove to the basket and faked a pass from behind to the guard. dripping black A tough scoop into the left corner with his right hand before switching to his left hand to score a layup.
The crowd at Capital One Arena went out of control.
It didn’t make much difference that washington wizards Down 15 points after that basket or Young, in his first game since being traded to Washington in January, was on a 20-minute ban. It also didn’t matter much that Young got off to a slow start and made only one of the five 3-pointers he attempted in the game, finishing with 12 points and six assists for the Wizards. 122-112 damage to utah jazz.
In his limited time on the court, the 27-year-old Young proved he is the type of player the Wizards haven’t had since the early, healthy days of John Wall. He demonstrated the fluidity and playmaking ability during his seven-plus seasons that made him one of the league’s most exciting players. atlanta hawks. Young dazzled the crowd with his ankle-breaking handles, no-look passes and moonshot 3-point attempts.
Young compared Thursday’s game to his debut against the Hawks new York Knicks Eight years ago at Madison Square Garden, when he said he couldn’t sleep the night before. He said his only hope Thursday is to shake off the pain of not playing since Dec. 27 and get back into the swing of the game.
Young found offense for himself – from the pick-and-roll or step-back jumper – but missed open 3s that he otherwise could have made in the past.
“I thought I played well,” Young said after the game. “My shots were on the line. I had no legs under me.”
In his first minutes of action, Young was more of a facilitator rather than aggressively looking for his shot. Late in the second quarter, he was freed to go for a wide-open 3. anthony gill screen, but instead of letting it fly, Young found the guard trey johnson To the left corner for an open 3-pointer.
“Trey is such a willing passer,” adds julian reese Said. “Being a scorer and being a willing passer on the other hand is just such a threat. There aren’t a lot of guards like that in this league.”
In what would have been the highlight of the game, Young threw a dart bilal coulibalyWho was running on the right side of the court on a fast break. But as soon as the ball left Young’s hand, head coach Brian Keefe called a timeout.
“He caught me pretty quickly,” Keefe said. “He threw it too fast. The ball went out of his hand when I was calling him. I said, ‘Oh, man,’ but it happens.”
Although Young looked like his usual self in many games, it was clear that this was his first game in two months and his first game with his new Wizards teammates.
Reese, signed to a two-way contract last week, thwarted some of Young’s entry passes off of pick-and-rolls, which have been Young’s bread and butter throughout his career. On a fast break in the second quarter, Young found Johnson open in the right corner, but Johnson missed. Young tried to deliver a behind-the-back pass to Coulibaly early in the game, which went into the first rows of the stands.
“I’m learning these guys and they’re learning me,” Young said. “I think there will be times where they’ll have some ‘oh—‘ moments, like when I’m open and they get the ball when they’re not expecting it.”
Trailing 67-49 at the break, the Wizards looked to overcome some misses and mistakes in the second half.
In the third quarter, Young threw a backward pass to running back Johnson for a 3-pointer, and a few plays later he threw a pass between his legs. blake hinson into the waiting hands of anthony gillWho converted a contested basket. Young got a fast break at the end of the quarter. bub carrington For a wide-open 3 in the left corner that made the score 87-77.
Young, who played 19 minutes over three quarters, sat out the entire fourth.
While the Wizards are likely to clean up on offense in terms of games, the defensive side is a different story. Young, who stands 6-foot-2 and has always struggled on the defensive end, was attacked on Utah’s first possession, and was subjected to consistent pick-and-rolls and layers of ball screens to create open baskets.
Overall, the Wizards had poor transition and 3-point defense. They provided little to no rim protection and the perimeter defense led to too many open looks for the Jazz shooters, who made 15 3-pointers.
“We had a hard time controlling the dribble tonight. I thought dribble penetration, getting to the basket was the biggest thing,” Keefe said. “I thought our score was fine. It was just the admission, [Isaiah] tinkling And some of those people are going down. We didn’t play defense on the opening drive, and our coverage wasn’t as tough then.”
Since arriving in town, Young has endeared himself to Washington fans and his teammates. Since being acquired in January, he has worn the jerseys of stars who have played in the nation’s capital over the years, including Wall, Georgetown’s Allen Iverson and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals.
during the team’s game against Houston Rockets On March 2, Young was ejected from the bench after walking onto the court to argue with the referee during a brawl between Washington guards. jameer watkins and rocket forward Tari Eason.
“I knew I wasn’t going to get thrown out tonight when I played,” he said.
It was only Young’s 11th game of the season, as a torn right MCL and quad limited him to only 10 games in his final season with the Hawks.
After his first game with Washington, in which the Wizards suffered their seventh consecutive loss and fell to 16–46, Young is already eager to lead his new team to greater heights.
“I haven’t won a championship or been to a final, but I’m two games away from it,” Young said. “So I know what it takes to get there. For me, it’s the effort to get here. I know you can’t do it overnight.
“That’s why I love it here right now. That’s what we’re preaching about daily habits and making sure that you’re getting better every day, whether you’re in the gym or not, you can get better, and whether it’s your body or your mind. Hopefully those daily habits will keep us going.” [having] Long-term success.”
