Anthony Davis Scores 44 on 16-of-21 Shooting, and the Wizards Still Lose by 11 in Detroit

Photo: NBA.com. Anthony Davis, Washington Wizards. Card design: The Dyme.

Anthony Davis scored 44 points on 16-of-21 shooting with 13 rebounds Monday night, and the Washington Wizards still lost 122-111 to the Detroit Pistons. He had 30 of those points by halftime, and Washington says that puts him on a short list of Wizards with a 30-point half since 1996-97, along with Bradley Beal, John Wall, Gilbert Arenas and Michael Jordan, per Marc Stein.

It was his season high by 10 points, in his first game back after he missed two games. Washington listed him as questionable Monday with a right ankle sprain, per WhyNBA's injury report roundup. Detroit never led by fewer than 11 points in the fourth quarter, by our count from the ESPN play-by-play.

The math of one man against a box score

The other Wizards shot 25 of 68 from the field (36.8 percent) and 7 of 32 from three, and scored 67 of the team's 111 points, by our count from the ESPN box.

Washington went into the break down 68-58, and Davis had 30 of the 58, with 11 in the first quarter and 19 in the second, by our count from the ESPN play-by-play.

Trae Young scored 20 with seven assists but needed 17 shots and went 3 of 10 from deep. AJ Dybantsa put up 21 and 8 with five turnovers. Tre Johnson went 1 of 8, all six of his threes missing. Alex Sarr scored four.

Detroit won the parts that don't show up in a 44-point line

Washington led for 2 percent of the game, per ESPN. Its biggest lead was one point.

Detroit had 31 assists to Washington's 16, and Davis had one of the 16. Detroit turned it over 11 times to Washington's 19 and scored 19 fast-break points to Washington's four, per ESPN.

Detroit won at the line, 28 of 31 against 20 of 28. Davis went 10 of 11, and his teammates went 10 of 17, by our count.

Five Pistons scored in double figures, led by John Collins with 24 and 10 on 9-of-13 shooting. Duncan Robinson and Daniss Jenkins added 22 each, and Jenkins had eight assists and four steals. Cade Cunningham scored 17 with seven assists in 27 minutes, and Kevin Huerter added 12 off the bench.

Where the 11 points came from

Davis made 16 of 21 shots (76 percent) in 34 minutes, and eight of his 16 baskets were assisted, by our count from the ESPN play-by-play. Washington shot 46 percent as a team.

Detroit made three more two-pointers, 35 to 32, worth six points, and eight more free throws, 28 to 20. Washington made one more three, 9 to 8. Six plus eight minus three is the 11-point margin, by our count from the ESPN box.

Davis scored eight in the third quarter, by our count, and Detroit won the period 35-29 to go up 103-87. Washington took the fourth 24-19, but by then the Pistons were playing with a 16-point cushion.

What the season line says about him

Through nine games, Davis is averaging 25.7 points on 53.3 percent shooting (89 of 167), with six games of 25 or more points and five of 10 or more rebounds, by our count from his ESPN game log. Before Monday, his high was 34 against Milwaukee on Oct. 21.

Washington is 4-7, per ESPN. The Wizards are 4-5 when he plays and 0-2 in the two games he missed, losses to Atlanta and Oklahoma City, by our count from the ESPN schedule.

Sources: ESPN box score, Wizards at Pistons, Nov. 9, 2026 (https://www.espn.com/nba/game/_/gameId/401909954) · ESPN Anthony Davis game log (https://www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/6583/anthony-davis) · Washington Wizards team note via Marc Stein, The Stein Line (https://x.com/TheSteinLine/status/2119967054623097175) · Wizards injury report via FantasyPros (https://www.fantasypros.com/nba/news/618936/anthony-davis-ankle-returns-to-lineup-monday.php) · WhyNBA Monday injury report (https://whynba.com/monday-nba-injury-report-november-9-2026-kon-knueppel-four-weeks-dennis-schroder-nuggets-starters-questionable/) · ESPN Washington Wizards schedule (https://www.espn.com/nba/team/schedule/_/name/wsh)