Anthony Davis scored 25 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, Trae Young added 21 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, and AJ Dybantsa scored 17 points in his home debut as the Washington Wizards routed the Charlotte Hornets 95-79 in their NBA Cup opener on Friday night, October 30, 2026, at Capital One Arena in Washington. Washington held Charlotte to 13 points in the third quarter and turned an early 10-point deficit into a comfortable win, avenging a defeat in Charlotte earlier in the week.
Charlotte started the brighter of the two teams, leading by 10 in the first quarter after opening 4 of 10 from three-point range. The lead did not survive Washington's second-half surge. The Wizards outscored the Hornets 57-33 across the second and third quarters combined, stormed ahead 79-54 late in the third, and never looked back. Charlotte scored seven straight points bridging the third and fourth quarters, but Bub Carrington's three-pointer halted that run, and Dybantsa's three-point play pushed the margin to 89-70 with 5:58 to play.
Davis was the game's most consistent force, scoring 25 points on efficient work inside and grabbing 13 rebounds, while Young feasted at the free-throw line, making 12 of 14 on his way to 21 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Washington outscored Charlotte 29-7 at the line overall, with Davis making 9 of 10, a 22-point advantage in a 16-point win. Kyshawn George added 12 points, and Carrington scored nine points off the bench, making all three of his three-point attempts, the best reserve total in the game.
Dybantsa's home debut was the night's main event for the Washington crowd, and the 19-year-old delivered. He made 5 of 11 shots, pulled in eight rebounds, two short of his first career double-double, and added an assist and a steal. He had an impressive putback in the fourth quarter wiped out by a basket-interference call, then won the crowd back moments later by switching hands while driving before banking in a shot while being fouled, a play that drew chants of "MVP! MVP!" from the home fans. Brandon Miller scored 19 points for Charlotte, but needed 24 shots to get them, and the Hornets never recovered after their early shooting deserted them.
Dybantsa's home debut came only two nights after his actual NBA debut, and the context explains why Washington's crowd was so eager to welcome him. The No. 1 overall pick in the June 2026 draft, out of BYU, where he earned consensus All-American honours in his lone college season, missed the start of the season with an ankle injury suffered in the preseason finale. He finally played on Wednesday night at Cleveland, scoring 19 points in a loss, and Friday was his first game in front of his new home crowd. Through two games he is averaging 18 points, a start that has already made him the face of Washington's rebuild.
The game was also a rematch with a recent sting attached. Charlotte beat Washington earlier in the week at home, a game in which Miller scored 29 points and Moussa Diabate dominated the boards. Friday reversed both storylines: Miller was held to 19 on poor shooting, and Washington nearly won the rebounding battle, with Dybantsa's eight boards helping to blunt Diabate's influence. The Wizards also won despite taking only 30 three-point attempts to Charlotte's 57, a season-long quirk of this Washington team that its coach, Brian Keefe, has been asked about repeatedly. On Friday, the Wizards proved they can win that way, by getting to the line, defending the third quarter and letting Davis and Young control the game.
As with Orlando's win in Toronto the same night, this game counted as an NBA Cup group-stage opener, giving it stakes beyond an ordinary October regular-season game. Group results decide who reaches the knockout rounds, and a home win to open the tournament, in front of a crowd celebrating its new rookie, is exactly the start Washington wanted. Both teams left the game at 3-3, but the manner of the win, a 16-point rout after an early deficit, made it feel like more than a single victory for the home side.
The third quarter decided this game. Charlotte scored 13 points in the period, Washington scored enough to turn a contest into a rout, and the Hornets' shooting, which had already cooled after its fast start, collapsed entirely. Charlotte finished the game shooting 29.7 per cent from the field and 12 of 56 from three-point range, numbers that no team can win with on the road. The Hornets led by 10 in the first quarter on 4-of-10 three-point shooting, then made only 8 of their next 46 attempts from deep, a drought that lasted the rest of the night.
Washington's defence deserves the credit, but so does its discipline. The Wizards did not chase Charlotte's volume from three, taking only 30 attempts of their own, and instead attacked the basket, earning 29 free throws to Charlotte's seven. Young's 12-of-14 night at the line was the clearest example: he drew fouls, slowed the game to Washington's pace and kept the scoreboard moving while Charlotte's jumpers missed. Davis's 9-of-10 at the line did the same work inside. In a game where one team shot under 30 per cent, the team that lived at the line was always going to win.
Dybantsa's contribution fitted that plan. He pushed the pace in transition, finished at the rim when leak-out chances came, and gave Washington energy on the wing that it had lacked in the earlier defeat in Charlotte. His 17 points, on only 11 shots, were efficient rather than spectacular, but the moments, the negated putback, the switched-hands finish through contact, the "MVP! MVP!" chants, were the ones the home crowd will remember. For a 19-year-old in his second NBA game, that composure, after missing the start of the season through injury, was the most encouraging sign of all.
The loudest reaction of the night needed no microphone. When Dybantsa switched hands in mid-air and banked in a shot while being fouled, the Capital One Arena crowd answered with chants of "MVP! MVP!" for a teenager playing his second professional game. It was a moment of pure home-crowd theatre, and it captured what this Wizards season is about: a new face, a new hope, and a fan base ready to believe in both. Dybantsa had already shown composure on Wednesday in Cleveland with 19 points on debut, and Friday's home debut, 17 points and eight rebounds, confirmed that the first night was no fluke.
The quieter storylines mattered just as much. Washington's low three-point attempt rate, 30 to Charlotte's 57, has been a talking point all season, and coach Brian Keefe has faced questions about it after games. Friday offered an answer of sorts: the Wizards can win without matching their opponent shot for shot from deep, provided Davis dominates inside, Young lives at the line and the defence holds an opponent to 13 points in a quarter. Whether that formula travels on the road is a different question, but at home, in an NBA Cup opener, it was more than enough.
This win matters first for the NBA Cup group. Washington opened its tournament account with a home win and a head-to-head edge over Charlotte, and did so in a way that suggests the group is winnable. Charlotte, which had beaten Washington earlier in the week, now has to make up that ground elsewhere. In a short group stage, home wins are the currency, and Washington has banked one.
It matters second for Dybantsa and the Wizards' rebuild. Rookie debuts are judged harshly, and home debuts more harshly still, but Dybantsa has now scored 19 and 17 in his first two games, come within two rebounds of a double-double in his second, and drawn MVP chants in his home arena. That is a start that buys patience and belief, two things rebuilding teams need more than anything. Pairing him with Davis, who remains a dominant two-way force, and Young, who controls games from the line and as a passer, gives Washington a core with a clear shape.
It matters third because of what it says about Charlotte. The Hornets led by 10 early, then shot 29.7 per cent and lost by 16, a collapse that will worry their coaches more than the single defeat. Miller's 7-of-24 night, after his 29-point game against the same opponent days earlier, showed how quickly a scorer can be taken out of rhythm, and the Hornets' reliance on three-point volume, 56 attempts, looks fragile when the shots stop falling. Charlotte remains a talented young team, but Friday exposed how thin its margin is when its shooting deserts it.
Washington's next task is to prove Friday's formula works away from home and against teams that defend the paint better than Charlotte did. The Wizards are not scheduled to host another high-stakes Cup game until November 24, against Boston, so the road games in between will test whether the third-quarter defence and free-throw advantage travel. For Dybantsa, the next milestone is obvious: a first career double-double, after falling two rebounds short on Friday, and a first 20-point game at home, after 19 on debut and 17 in his home debut.
Charlotte, meanwhile, needs a shooting reset before its next Cup game. The Hornets took good early looks and led by 10, which makes the collapse harder to explain and more urgent to fix. Miller will need support, and the offence will need a plan for nights when the threes do not fall, because 56 attempts at 21 per cent from deep is a recipe for another rout. The rematch with Washington later in the season now carries extra edge: Charlotte won the first meeting, Washington won the second, and the Cup group may yet come down to the third.
What was the final score? Washington Wizards 95, Charlotte Hornets 79, in the NBA Cup opener for both teams on Friday, October 30, 2026, at Capital One Arena in Washington.
Who led Washington? Anthony Davis with 25 points and 13 rebounds, Trae Young with 21 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, and AJ Dybantsa with 17 points and eight rebounds in his home debut.
How did AJ Dybantsa do in his home debut? He scored 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting, grabbed eight rebounds, two short of his first career double-double, and drew "MVP! MVP!" chants after a switched-hands finish through contact.
Why did Charlotte lose after leading by 10? The Hornets shot 29.7 per cent from the field and 12 of 56 from three-point range, scored only 13 points in the third quarter, and were outscored 29-7 at the free-throw line.
Was this a revenge win? Yes. Charlotte beat Washington earlier in the week at home, when Brandon Miller scored 29 points. On Friday, Miller was held to 19 on 7-of-24 shooting.
Related coverage: AJ Dybantsa's NBA debut: No. 1 pick scores 19 as Wizards fall to Cavaliers, Pistons blow past Nets 110-94 in NBA Cup play, and WNBA Finals Game 7: Dream vs Valkyries battle for first title Saturday.
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