Wizards
AJ Dybantsa waited four games to make his NBA debut. Once he got out there, he didn’t look particularly interested in easing into things.
The No. 1 overall pick scored 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting in Wednesday’s loss at Cleveland, adding two rebounds and two assists in 27 minutes. He had missed Washington’s first four games with a left ankle sprain.
“I thought he was terrific,” coach Brian Keefe said, via Josh Robbins of The Athletic. “You saw his ability to get to the basket from the opening play, his ability to make the simple reads (and) great passing from him.”
Dybantsa also spent time defending James Harden, one of his favorite players growing up. Harden finished with 16 points on 5-of-18 shooting.
“I thought his defensive activity was terrific,” Keefe said. “Pretty impressive for a first game.”
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Rockets
Fred VanVleet likes what he’s seeing from the Rockets. Just don’t expect him to get carried away with five October wins.
“We’re focused on getting out of the first round (of the playoffs) this year, so I’m not really worried about what our record is right now,” VanVleet said after Wednesday’s win, via Space City Home Network. “But we’re playing some damn good basketball and we gotta keep it up.”
VanVleet called training camp one of the best he’s experienced.
“It was something special in the air,” he said. “The energy, the togetherness, the chemistry.”
He also got his wish to play more alongside Reed Sheppard on Wednesday with Marcus Smart sidelined, per Varun Shankar of the Houston Chronicle. Houston has until Nov. 2 to exercise Sheppard’s $14.04 million option for 2027-28.
Warriors
Stephen Curry has seen enough from Yaxel Lendeborg to offer a fairly enthusiastic scouting report.
“Kind of the full package,” Curry said, via Dan Dempster of NBC Sports Bay Area. “So, we want him to continue to play aggressive.”
The No. 11 pick delivered 31 points, 12 rebounds and six assists against Denver on Monday, then scored 26 in Wednesday’s win at Minnesota.
“He’s just got composure, feel,” Curry said. “His size on the court; he’s a matchup problem. He’s never really in a hurry and he’s starting to see the pictures really well.”
Curry contributed plenty himself, scoring 24 points without missing a shot Monday before going for 44 points, eight rebounds and six assists Wednesday.
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