Alex Sarr anchors the Wizards' defense, swatting away countless shots and setting a tone that fuels their recent winning streak.
20-year-old Alex Sarr's rise as one of the Wizards' top young players continues as one of the more fascinating stories for the 2025 Wizards.
In an up-and-down rookie season, his ability to protect the rim became his calling card when he struggled to find his footing offensively. The strides he's made on offense are notable -- making him into a real piece for the team's future.
Defensively, the Wizards have asked Sarr to do a lot. He continues to be the anchor that keeps them in place. Sarr's career-high six-block performance in Washington's win over Memphis becomes the latest performance to highlight his prowess.
"I feel like the opportunities you get to block the shots I feel like some games there's less layups, some games there's more, so more opportunities to block shots," Sarr said.
"This is why we picked him," Wizards head coach Brian Keefe said. "He was really active tonight. He set the tone for us defensively -- protecting the rim, multiple efforts; that's what he's here for.
Sarr turned in another admirable offensive performance, scoring 20 on 9/20 shooting. He was an efficient 8/14 on his two-point attempts. Additionally, he added 2 steals to boost his defensive totals.
Sarr accumulated all six blocks in the game's first three quarters -- with three of them coming in the first few minutes of the game. The matchup between he and Jaren Jackson Jr. picked up steam early. The two bigs took right at one another often. Jackson Jr. finished with a game-high 31 points.
Sarr's 2.2 blocks per night is second best in the NBA behind Indiana's Jay Huff. Victor Wembanyama would be number one if he qualified. Sarr has notched at least two blocks in 15 of his 21 games played this season.
"I was out there a lot in my rookie year getting a lot of minutes -- seeing a lot of different coverages -- making mistakes and being able to play through them," Sarr said about his improvement on both ends.
Sarr is asked to defend more shots at the rim than anyone in the NBA. He defends over 19 shots per game, according to NBA.com. Still, Sarr's defended field goal percentage sits at a respectable 46.9%.
Additionally, the Wizards' team defense has seen solid improvements over the last seven games. Over that span, their 43.3% defensive field goal percentage is tied for the best in the league. They're also one of seven teams to average at least 6 team blocks per game over the last seven.
"Our defense carried," Keefe said. "Our defense stayed consistent, and that ran the day for us."
The Wizards have won back-to-back games for the first time since March 15th of last year.
"I think we really put an emphasis on our defense," Sarr said. "Knowing that's what's going to help us whether we have a great shooting night like last game, or a night where we're not shooting great like tonight, making sure that's the thing that can get us over the hump."
Sarr and Bilal Coulibaly have been the lethal French duo on the defensive side of the ball. Coulibaly's return to the lineup has helped in a big way. Sarr said the activity they provide makes them stronger defensively.
"Coach really told us that we can be special defensively -- we just got to put our hat on that and really lock in on that end," Sarr said.