WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new era has begun in the nation’s capital.
The Washington Wizards (1-0), a franchise that has won just 50 games over the past three seasons combined, earned a win on the opening night of the 2026 season – taking down the Milwaukee Bucks 128-116
Wizards’ center Anthony Davis recorded a 30-point, 11-rebound double-double by the end of the third quarter, becoming the first Wizard to post a double-double in their debut since Marvin Bagley III who scored 20 points and 11 rebounds against the New York Knicks in Jan. 2024. Davis finished with 34 points and 12 rebounds in Washington’s 12-point win.
“It felt great,” Davis said. “It’s been nine months since I played a real game so it felt really good to be out on the floor and compete again, with these guys. Glad that we could get the win. I had so much fun tonight.”
No. 1 overall pick AJ Dybantsa was ruled out on Tuesday, after continuing to deal with an ankle injury he suffered in the second quarter of Washington’s final preseason game against the New Orleans Pelicans. Dybantsa is “day-to-day” according to Wizards’ head coach Brian Keefe, and fourth-year wing Bilal Coulibaly earned the start in his place.
“The guy who really was like, eager was AJ,” Davis said. “He wants to be out there so bad.”
Coulibaly scored Washington’s first points of its 2026 campaign, and picked up two early steals to help Washington escape an early five-point deficit. In his first regular-season game as a Wizard, Davis also got off to a hot start – tallying 10 points and six rebounds in the opening quarter to help Washington enter the second quarter with a 25-23 lead. Washington’s third-year wing Kyshawn George finished the first quarter with seven points and an assist.
But Milwaukee (0-1) held Davis to just two points in the second quarter, and George scoreless as the Bucks outscored Washington 33-26 to take a 56-51 lead entering the half. The Wizards shot 42% from the field in the first half and just 18% from behind the arc.
George knocked down a triple midway through the third quarter to join Davis and Trae Young (11) in double-figure scoring and cut Milwaukee’s lead to two, but foul trouble kept him on the bench for a majority of the quarter.
In his absence, Davis tacked on 18 third quarter points while shooting 5-for-9 from the field and 8-for-11 from the free throw line – earning MVP chants from the home crowd inside of Capital One Arena.
But despite Davis’ best efforts, Washington trailed 93-90 entering the fourth quarter until Wizards’ guard Justin Champagnie found center Deandre Ayton for the two-footed dunk to give Washington a 97-98 lead – its first lead since it led 34-33 midway through the second quarter. The dunk sparked a 16-2 Washington run.
Milwaukee responded with two quick triples from Tyler Herro and Myles Turner but it was not enough to stop the bleeding, and Washington continued to pull away in the final minutes to earn its first win since Mar. 25 of last season.
Young joined Davis in double-double territory with 20 points and 13 assists, George tacked on 18 points, five rebounds and three assists, and Coulibaly scored 11 points while recording four steals and an assist. Deandre Ayton (11) and Bub Carrington (10) also finished in double-figure scoring.
Tyler Herro led Milwaukee in scoring with 24 points with Jamie Jaquez Jr. (22), Kasparas Jakucionis (15), Brayden Burries (12) and Turner (11) each eclipsing 10+ points.
Washington will look to build off its first win of the year when it hosts the Toronto Raptors at Capital One Arena on Friday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. ET on MNMT.
