03/05/26 10:12:00
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03/05 22:10 CST Trae Young brings plenty of excitement to the court in limited
minutes in his Wizards debut
Trae Young brings plenty of excitement to the court in limited minutes in his
Wizards debut
By NOAH TRISTER
AP Sports Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) --- Trae Young showed off plenty of tricks in his debut for the
Washington Wizards.
On his team's first offensive possession he breezed in for a layup. Later in
the first half, Young faked a behind-the-back pass with his right hand and then
switched the ball to his left before making a contested layup.
In the third quarter, he made a 3-pointer while being fouled and threw a pass
between a defender's legs to set up a layup.
"I just wanted to come out here and just have some fun," Young said. "Get the
first one out of the way."
Young had 12 points and six assists in just over 19 minutes in his first game
with the Wizards, a 122-112 loss to Utah on Thursday night. Washington acquired
Young from Atlanta in January, but he hadn't played since then because of
quadriceps and knee issues.
There was a noticeable buzz in the crowd when he began the game in the starting
lineup, and although Young was on a minutes restriction, he had enough time to
give Washington fans a sense of what he can provide --- almost nonstop action
at the offensive end.
"You felt the electricity in the building," Wizards coach Brian Keefe said.
"Our fans have been terrific this year. I'm glad they came out to show support
today. You could definitely feel it."
Young said he didn't get much sleep Wednesday night.
"I was really looking forward to today," he said. "Just coming out here and
shaking off whatever rust I would have, just from missing a few months of
basketball."
Although Young was the main attraction, a couple rookies upstaged him a bit.
Utah's Ace Bailey scored a career-high 32 points, and Juju Reese --- in just
his third NBA game --- had 18 points and 20 rebounds for Washington.
Tre Johnson, drafted by the Wizards one spot after Bailey last year, scored 15
points, all on 3-pointers.
The connection between Young and Johnson will be one to watch. Of course, the
tandem that might really bring attention to Washington is Young and Anthony
Davis, but the latter still hasn't played since the Wizards traded for him last
month.
Davis has been out because of ligament damage in his left hand. The team said
Thursday he's been cleared to began limited on-court basketball activities and
will be evaluated again in two weeks.
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