WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Washington Wizards took down another playoff-caliber squad on Tuesday night behind a 23-point, seven-rebound, and five-block performance by second-year center Alex Sarr, exemplifying how far the young core has come. The Wizards are now 5-2 in their last seven games and 7-5 in their last 12 after beating the Orlando Magic 120-112 at home.

Sarr gave a straightforward answer to ClutchPoints postgame when asked if he thinks about how far he's come in the NBA after performances like Tuesday's.

“Yeah, I feel like I’m better than my rookie season,” the 20-year-old admitted. “Having more impact on defense and offense, so it’s definitely good to see.”

Sarr shot 7-of-14 from the field (2-5 3-point) while adding two assists and one steal over 31 minutes. The seven-footer also tied third-year guard Bilal Coulibaly and Magic guard Jett Howard with a game-high plus-23 plus/minus.

Sarr now has four games with 20-plus points and four-plus blocks this season, ranking second only behind San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama (five games). The 2024 No. 2 overall pick has also scored 20-plus points 10 times, which ties his rookie-year total.

On top of that, Sarr leads the NBA with 2.4 blocks per game despite playing on a minutes restriction over the last few contests as he recovers from an adductor injury. That's almost one block more than the rim-protecting maestro averaged as a rookie, and his field goal percentage is 49.9 (35.5 percent 3-point) after recording a 39.4 percent clip (30.8 percent 3-point) last season.

Sarr's improvement is also reflected in his advanced stats. The 2025 first-team All-Rookie honoree has an 8.1 percent higher effective field goal clip, 7.9 percent higher true shooting, a 3.1 percent higher assist percentage, and 1.8 percent higher rebound percentage. His net rating is also 4.6 points higher.

However, it's not just the stats that show how Sarr is making Washington look smart for taking him with its 2024 lottery pick. The former Australian League (NBL) player anchored the defense after the Wizards allowed a 26-point lead to shrink to two with 5:03 left in the game, as they allowed just seven points after that. Additionally, he caught a CJ McCollum lob for an alley-oop dunk to give them a 109-105 lead with 4:46 left.

A young player coming in clutch in crunch-time situations when his team is facing a potentially catastrophic collapse shows poise, a quality that the whole squad has shown during this competitive stretch of hoops. Head coach Brian Keefe explained what Washington's young core can learn from a game in which it almost blew a 26-point lead, but regrouped and closed out the win.

“I think you realize that these games are long and you just want to keep doing the things that got you there,” he said. “Sometimes you forget how you got there. And I think we realized the way we got there with our defense. We gave up a big scoring stretch, and I think we relaxed a bit defensively.”

“But the reason we got the lead, you know, people don’t talk about that enough, and we talked about that right before the seven-minute mark,” he continued. “‘How did we get there?’ And we got there with our defense, and we finished with our defense. So I think that was great growth.”

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Bilal Coulibaly shines with health finally intact

Washington Wizards guard Bilal Coulibaly (0) takes a shot during the second half against the Orlando Magic at Capital One Arena.
© Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

Coulibaly also showed his lockdown defensive skills, as he finished with a career-high five steals and helped limit Orlando star Paolo Banchero, who averages 20.7 points, to 14 points (5-10 FG, 1-3 3-point) over 25 minutes. The 21-year-old not only stole the ball from Banchero and dunked it on the other end on the first play of the game, but he also held him off the scoreboard for the first several minutes.

Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch offered kind words about Coulibaly before his team beat Washington 141-115 on Sunday.

“He’s making all the appropriate strides. He’s figuring out who he is in this league, that’s a huge part of the development curve, being able to do it every single night,” he said. “You’re starting to see those things take root, and all of the other pieces and polish will come.”

Coulibaly still needs to “polish” his shooting efficiency, as he owns a 38.2 percent (25 percent 3-point) field goal clip over 21 games. But the 2023 No. 7 overall pick now has five games with 10-plus points, five-plus rebounds, and three-plus steals this season, including four of his last seven appearances. If he keeps up his elite production as a perimeter defender, he'll still have a positive impact on the team while he improves his offensive game.

The other key for Coulibaly is to stay healthy, as he has yet to play more than 63 games in a season and has already missed 13 contests in the 2025-26 campaign. But if the two-time Rising Star doesn't miss extended time from now until April, he'll be on the right track.

Up next for the Wizards is a road date with the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday before hosting the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday.