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Hawks at Wizards: Trae Young faces Atlanta as Washington tests its frontcourt edge

Trae Young spent more than seven seasons with the Hawks before his January move to Washington. His former team visits Capital One Arena on Wednesday with a 4-4 record and a narrow win in Indianapolis behind it. The Wizards are 4-3 after beating Orlando, where Anthony Davis scored 29 points. Young's reunion gives the game a story, but the contest around the basket may decide how it develops.

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Exterior of Capital One Arena in Washington, photographed in November 2023.
Capital One Arena in Washington, the venue for this game. File photograph from November 2023. © APK / Wikimedia Commons (file photo, CC BY 4.0; resized)
  • Competition: 2026-27 NBA regular season. This game is outside the NBA Cup group stage.
  • Matchup: Atlanta Hawks at Washington Wizards.
  • Tip-off: Wednesday, November 4 at 7:00 p.m. EST in Washington; Thursday, November 5 at 00:00 UTC.
  • Venue: Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C.

Young has more than one scoring outlet

Washington beat the Magic 103-94 on Monday. Davis collected 29 points and eight rebounds, while Kyshawn George scored 22 and rookie AJ Dybantsa added 21 in his third NBA game. Young had 15 points and nine assists. The Wizards shot 53% from the floor, according to the game recap carried by the NBA, and held off Orlando after the home team cut into their lead late.

The Wizards acquired Young from Atlanta in a trade that sent CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert to the Hawks in January 2026. The roster swap makes Wednesday a meeting of familiar players, but Washington's Monday win showed that its offense need not depend on Young's scoring alone. Davis can finish a possession inside, George can make a defense pay from the perimeter, and Dybantsa is already taking meaningful shots. If Atlanta sends extra help toward Young, the location of its next rotation will matter more than the fact that he knows the visitors.

One question concerns Alex Sarr. Washington's center missed Monday's game with a knee issue, as the NBA's recap noted. That absence does not settle his availability against Atlanta. His status for Wednesday must be taken from the game-specific injury report rather than inferred from the previous box score.

Alexander-Walker rescued Atlanta, but Indiana reached the paint

The Hawks won 108-104 at Indiana on Monday. Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 34 points. Onyeka Okongwu supplied the basket with 10.2 seconds remaining that set the final margin. Indiana had only six players available and still got within two with 1:36 left. Atlanta built a 12-point halftime lead, then had to protect it through a difficult second half.

The league's game chart credits the Pacers with 54 points in the paint to Atlanta's 26. One game does not define the Hawks' defense, especially against an opponent with such an unusual rotation. It does identify a problem Davis can test. If Okongwu needs help against Washington's interior attack, the Hawks must still locate George and Dybantsa outside. At the other end, Alexander-Walker's 34-point night gives Washington a reason to close out on shooters without conceding a clear lane to the rim.

Young's passing and Davis's finishing offer one possible pressure point; Alexander-Walker's perimeter shooting and Okongwu's work late in possessions offer another. The starting groups and individual matchups have not been announced. Those possibilities depend as well on who is available Wednesday, particularly in Washington's frontcourt.

Player availability

The NBA injury report issued at 3:30 p.m. EST on Tuesday, November 3 still listed both clubs as having not submitted their designations for this matchup. The league requires a report by 5 p.m. local time on the preceding day for games that are not the second half of a back-to-back. Playing Monday does not by itself confirm participation Wednesday.

Atlanta Hawks

  • Absences, questions and returns: Atlanta had not submitted its game-specific list in the cited report. No status for Wednesday's participants could be confirmed from that filing.

Washington Wizards

  • Alex Sarr: missed Monday's game with a knee issue. The cited report did not yet say whether he would play against Atlanta.
  • Other players: Washington had not submitted its game-specific designations in that report.

How to watch Hawks at Wizards

Washington's official team listing schedules MNMT/Monumental+ for its local market. The NBA's November 4 schedule lists the game on League Pass. Live League Pass availability in the United States depends on local blackout rules. The league says its live games are available through League Pass in supported countries outside the United States and Canada. A local television channel in a different territory is not established by that information.

United States

  • Time: Wednesday, November 4 at 7:00 p.m. EST / 4:00 p.m. PST.
  • Washington local market: MNMT on television and Monumental+ for streaming, subject to provider and location.
  • Outside the local markets: NBA League Pass, subject to blackout restrictions. The Atlanta-area station for this specific game was not identified in the game listing consulted.

Australia

  • Time: Thursday, November 5 at 11:00 a.m. AEDT in Sydney, 10:00 a.m. AEST in Brisbane and 8:00 a.m. AWST in Perth.
  • Streaming: NBA League Pass. TV: no game-specific linear channel verified for Australia.

United Kingdom

  • Time: Thursday, November 5 at 00:00 GMT.
  • Streaming: NBA League Pass. TV: no game-specific linear channel verified for the UK.

The next test for Atlanta is whether it can keep Davis from turning interior catches into easy points while remaining close enough to Washington's other scorers. The Wizards must answer a different question: how to defend Alexander-Walker after his 34-point performance without giving the visitors the room Indiana found inside.