As if there was any residual doubt regarding the Washington Wizards' headlining scorer entering mid-November, Anthony Davis slammed any debate with the fresh-faced AJ Dybantsa, the table-setting Trae Young or the hot-shooting Kyshawn George shut with one of the most efficient outings anyone's capped off this season. 44 points on 16/20 shooting registered as his first 40+ point performance since his days as a Los Angeles Laker, two teams ago, as well as the first 30+ point half anyone's recorded to start the fall.

ANTHONY DAVIS DROPPED 30 POINTS IN THE 1H 🤯

10-11 FGM

MOST POINTS IN THE FIRST HALF BY A PLAYER THIS SEASON! pic.twitter.com/I2I8fnStsC

— NBA (@NBA) November 10, 2026

Despite the scintillating perimeter play-finishing and his hunger for put-back layups off of loose balls and boards, his Wizards still fell short against the Detroit Pistons in a 122-111 defeat that wasn't quite as competitive as that final score would imply. Their fourth-consecutive loss continued revealing just how far Washington remains from stringing together anything resembling competitive basketball, a concern that goes well beyond their admittedly-disruptive opponents.

As attractive as Davis' final point total was, here are a few other numbers that'll deflate any fan who's looking for answers- or figures to blame for the sinking 4-7 record.

Trae Young's Still-Concerning Efficiency

Davis' point guard has not pulled his weight as the other leg of Washington's still-threatening All-Stars. He entered Detroit shooting under 40% from the field for the first time of his accomplished career, and poured in yet another off-shooting performance with a 6/17 showing that surely won't resolve the concerns surrounding his aging game.

It's not just that the threes that aren't falling. He's failing to generate much of any separation anywhere, and that lack of touch on increasingly-tough chucks has translated to his once-automatic floater. One of the biggest advocates for the in-between move among active scorers, he missed on several of those short-range bunnies he used to stroll into in continuing another unfortunate season trend.

The offense hasn't been able to go far without their primary distributor fully-punishing his assignments downhill, and this game was no different. Add the Pistons to the growing list of squads who've already locked the Wizards' iteration of Young up with pure size and depth.

The Wizards' Viral Turnover Concerns

It wasn't just the little guard who succumbed to Detroit's disruptive role players. Washington coughed up 18 turnovers to the Pistons' 10, with Dybantsa and George particularly-struggling with five apiece.

Loved the patience here from Kyshawn to snake the PnR, stop on two feet and get to a smooth reverse pivot fade midranger. pic.twitter.com/GDVCXoWXus

— Wizards Film Room (@KevinFolliNBA) November 10, 2026

There were a few times where audiences could tell that they'd misplayed their hands by accidentally driving into traffics without obvious outlets to dish to, though there were just as many giveaways that they inflicted upon themselves with dump-off passes to the wrong team. The Pistons deserve credit for the repeated awareness to take their recoveries coast-to-coast, but this is a matter of the Wizards' poor passing synergy and general-inexperience lining the wings above all else.

Washington's Still-Cratering Bench Scoring

While four of the Wizards' five starters finished the game with double-figure points to their respective names, they got little relief from their skeletal second unit.

Tre Johnson, Bub Carrington and Deandre Ayton, the sole regularly-trusted bench-hands among the mostly-healthy Wizards' remaining contributors, combined for four five points until the final few minutes of garbage time. Sure, Ayton could have finished a few more of his attempts from point-blank range, but Johnson and Carrington were the ones who snowballed into distractions as the hypothetical floor-spacers over 48 combined minutes of unimpressive contributions.

This was just a bad game out of Carrington, who'll still hover around 50% from behind the arc by the time Basketball Reference updates his slash lines. Johnson, meanwhile, is embroiled in what can only be labeled as a nightmarish start to his season; an 0-7 start from the floor punctuated by one conversion in the fourth quarter's final minutes will condemn the former sniper even deeper into his dramatic shooting slump, necessitating a number of rotational questions. Does head coach Brian Keefe grant more minutes to Bilal Coulibaly upon his return? Will he extend Carrington's leash? Will he make any alteration to his substitution patterns? We'll have to keep watching to find out.

All we know now is that this kind of collective output from the key reserves isn't sustainable, evidenced in the losing streak that now equals the Wizards' total wins on the young season. Compare those paltry finishes to the three second-string Pistons who outpaced Washington's bench crew on their own, let alone Cunningham's three starting shooters who each totaled 20 or more on the second night of their scheduled back-to-back. Much to think about entering the Wizards' day off.