Young Adjusts to Extra Defensive Attention

Every NBA teams sends out advance scouts to track upcoming opponents, and they aren't there to just munch on popcorn and check out cheerleaders, so it should not have been a surprise for Washington guard Nick Young when the Knicks focused on stopping him Friday.

After all, Young was coming off a four-game stretch during which he shot 71.7 percent from the field and averaged 25.8 points. When the teams met in New York on Wednesday, Young scorched the Knicks for a career-high 33 points on 13-of-17 shooting in a Wizards loss.

On Friday night, the Knicks greeted Young with double-teams and other defensive wrinkles designed to keep him in check. He hit a crucial jump shot late to help the Wizards pull out a 96-89 win, but finished with 13 points on 6-of-13 shooting with one assist and two turnovers.

"I hadn't seen that since college and it's kind of hard to adjust to it," Young said of the extra defensive attention. "You saw me out there a little frustrated a little bit but that's just something I'm going to have to learn from."

Interim coach Ed Tapscott said he liked the way Young remained under control without forcing the action.

"I told him, 'Remember now, you're not going to score 30 every night,' " Tapscott said. " 'These people aware of you now. There are coaches on the other side of that wall in that locker room and when you score 30 points, they are going to make an adjustment. They are going to gear their defense to stopping you.' I thought he did a good job of making the adjustment. He had a couple of turnovers, but he also helped us in other ways."

Up Next: Monday at Golden State 4 p.m. WDCA-50, WTEM-980

Wednesday at Sacramento 10 p.m. Comcast SportsNet, WTEM-980