Alex Sarr reveals why he’s ‘better’ than his rookie season after a masterclass against the Magic

WASHINGTON, DC — The Washington Wizards took down another playoff-caliber team on Tuesday night behind 23 points, seven rebounds and five blocks. sophomore center Alex Sarrwhich shows how far the young core has come. The 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 direct answer to ClutchPoints after the game when asked if he was thinking about it how far he has come in the NBA after performances like Tuesday’s.

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

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

Sarr now has four games with 20-plus points and four-plus blocks this season, ranking second behind San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama (five games). The second overall pick in 2024 also scored 20-plus points 10 times, matching his rookie year total.

On top of that, Sarr leads the NBA with 2.4 blocks per game despite playing on a minutes restriction the past few contests while recovering from an adductor injury. That’s nearly one block more than the average rim-protecting maestro as a rookie, and his field goal percentage is 49.9 (35.5 percent 3-pointers) after shooting 39.4 percent (30.8 percent 3-pointers) last season.

Sar’s progress is also reflected in his advanced stats. The 2025 All-Rookie First Team honoree has an 8.1 percent higher effective field goal percentage, a 7.9 percent higher true shooting percentage, a 3.1 percent higher assist percentage and a 1.8 percent higher rebound percentage. His net rating is also 4.6 points higher.

But it’s not just the stats that show Sarr is making Washington look smart for taking him with their 2024 lottery pick. The former NBL player anchored the defense after the Wizards let a 26-point lead shrink to two with 5:03 left in the game, allowing just seven points after that. Additionally, he caught CJ McCollum’s lob for a dunk to give them a 109-105 lead with 4:46 left.

A young player who comes up clutch in crunch situations when his team is facing a potentially catastrophic collapse shows poise, a quality that the entire team displayed during this competitive stretch of hoops. Head coach Brian Keefe explained what Washington is all about the young core can learn from a game in which he nearly blew a 26-point lead, but regrouped and closed out the win.

“I think you realize 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 figured out the way we got there with our defense. We gave up a big score and I think we got a little loose defensively.”

“But the reason we got the lead, you know, people don’t talk about it enough and we talked about it just before the seven minute mark,” he continued. “‘How did we get there?’ And that’s where we got with our defense, and we’re done with our defense. So I think that was a big growth.”

Bilal Coulibaly shines with his health finally intact

Coulibaly also showed off his defensive skills on the block, as he finished with five steals and helped limit Orlando star Paolo Banchero, who is averaging 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 Buncher and dunked it in on the other end on the first play of the game, but also kept him off the scoreboard for the first few minutes.

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

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch on his impression of Bilal Koulibaly in year three (topic):

“He’s making all the right steps. He’s finding out who he is in this league, that’s a huge part of the development curve, being able to do that every night. . . .” pic.twitter.com/jVvim2nklc

— Joshua Valdez (@joshvaldez100) January 4, 2026

“He’s taking all the right steps. He’s finding out who he is in this league, that’s a big part of the development curve, being able to do that every night,” he said. “You start to see those things take root, and all the other pieces and polish will come.

Koulibaly still needs to “smooth out” his shooting efficiency, as he owns a 38.2 percent (25 percent 3-point) clip from the field in 21 games. But the No. 7 overall pick in 2023 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 continues his elite production as a perimeter defender, he will continue to have a positive impact on the team as he improves his offensive game.

Another key for Coulibaly is staying healthy, as he has yet to play more than 63 games in a season and has already missed 13 contests in 2025-26. But if the rising two-time star doesn’t miss the extended time between now and April, he’ll be on the right track.

Next up for the Wizards is a meeting with the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday before hosting the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday.