Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat just turned in the most dominant scoring quarter of any NBA player so far this season, ending the first quarter with 31 points en route to a 43-point first half. Story in @theathletic.com:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/710...
Bam Adebayo has 19 of Miami's 23 points. Add him to the list of centers who have added a three-point shot later in their careers, following in the path of Brook Lopez and Nikola Vucevic. Having said that, Adebayo is one of the best defensive players in the league. A true two-way player.
Alex Sarr has had an excellent start to tonight's game against the Heat. Even more impressive than his open 3 and his putback dunk was his block on Bam Adebayo on an Adebayo drive.
The Wizards have updated their injury report to list Trae Young as out for tonight's game in Miami for right-knee injury management. Tonight begins a stretch in which the Wizards will play five games in eight days. Also, the Heat also are dealing with many injuries tonight. See below ⤵️:
I ran into Wizards fans at the NOLA airport this morning, and that was fun to see. Thank you for saying hello! Also, the security wait times at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport were minimal, just 10 minutes through TSA Pre. Thank you to the workers who are here!
Jordan Poole left a positive legacy with the Washington Wizards. Just ask his former teammates who made a beeline for him after last night's game in New Orleans. Story in @theathletic.com, free to everyone:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/710...
Trae Young and Alex Sarr may both be done for the evening. Young's at 17 minutes, 44 seconds of playing time, while Sarr's at 17 minutes, 35 seconds. Both players are on minutes restrictions. In his 17+ minutes, Young has 17 points, four rebounds and eight assists.
Bub Carrington is playing in his 145th consecutive game tonight. That's the third-longest current consecutive-games streak in the NBA, trailing only Mikal Bridges (621) of the Knicks and Julian Champagnie (167) of the Spurs. Julian and Justin are twin brothers.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the highest free-throw attempt total by a team this season is 51, by the Oklahoma City Thunder in their double-overtime win on Oct. 23 vs. Indiana. At halftime tonight, the New Orleans Pelicans are 27 for 36 from the free-throw line.
From New Orleans, here is a look at some of Trae Young's early pregame shooting routine:
Alex Sarr is expected to play 16 to 20 minutes tonight, Wizards coach Brian Keefe said a short while ago. Sarr is set to play for the first time since Feb. 8, so he is on a minutes restriction.
With Alex Sarr set to play in his first game since Feb. 8, tonight's game here in New Orleans also marks his first game action alongside Trae Young. It'll be interesting to watch them team up on middle pick-and-rolls tonight -- no doubt the first of many for the future.
Did you antagonize them?
In only his third NBA regular-season game, Juju Reese had a performance of a lifetime. Story in @theathletic.com, free for everyone to read:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/709...
Trae Young had trouble sleeping Wednesday into Thursday. He was that excited for his Wizards debut. When tipoff finally arrived, the wait was worth it. Story in @TheAthletic:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/709...
At the end of the first quarter, the Wizards trail the Jazz 37-23. Trae Young played the game's opening 7 minutes, 32 seconds, ending his first stint with two points, one rebound and two assists.
Video and sound of Trae Young being introduced for the first time as a Washington Wizards starter:
The Wizards' starters tonight:
Trae Young
Tre Johnson
Leaky Black
Bilal Coulibaly
Juju Reese
After Keyonte George played 30 minutes last night in the Jazz's loss last night in Philadelphia, the Jazz are holding him out tonight in Washington for right ankle injury management. Here's the rest of Utah's injury report:
Anthony Davis was reevaluated Wednesday in L.A. by a hand specialist and "continues to progress as expected and has been cleared to begin limited individual on-court basketball activities," the Wizards announced. Team officials added that Davis will be reevaluated in two weeks.
George is averaging 14.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game, all while shooting 38.1 percent from three-point range and 80.2 percent from the free-throw line.
The Wizards have announced that Kyshawn George has been diagnosed with a partial UCL tear in his left elbow and will be reevaluated in three weeks. George suffered the injury on March 2 against the Rockets. The team said George's injury will be treated conservatively.
As expected, Trae Young is off the Wizards' injury report for Thursday's game against the Jazz. But Anthony Davis, Kyshawn George, D'Angelo Russell, Alex Sarr, Tristan Vukcevic, Jamir Watkins and Cam Whitmore are out. Anthony Gill is questionable because of an illness.
Embracing the tank isn’t just for NBA GMs and owners. Fans are buying in, too. Story in @theathletic.com:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/708...
WNBA star Angel Reese is here in Orlando, watching her brother Juju Reese play in his second NBA regular-season game. Angel is wearing a No. 15 Wizards jersey, which is Juju's jersey.
Sharife Cooper just drew a three-shot foul from Jase Richardson. The moment the foul was called, Bilal Coulibaly sprung up from his seat on the Wizards' bench and applauded. A good effort so far from the Wizards, who trail at the end of the first quarter 27-24.
The Wizards will have nine players available for their game tonight in Orlando, coach Brian Keefe said a few minutes ago.
Washington's Will Riley was a nominee for Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for February, the league announced. The winner was Charlotte's Kon Knueppel.
Trae Young merely got swept up in the moment. But on Monday night, he endeared himself to his new teammates and to fans in Washington by getting thrown out of a game that he wasn't even playing in. Story for @theathletic.com:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/708...
Houston's Tari Eason has been issued two technical fouls (one of them for shoving Jamir Watkins), resulting in Eason's ejection. Watkins received one technical foul.
