Stephen Curry may have taken over down the stretch in Saturday's important win for the Golden State Warriors, but it was Trayce Jackson-Davis who set the tone in the 113-103 defeat of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
After being a DNP in the last game against the Timberwolves earlier in the month, Jackson-Davis delivered a season-best performance at exactly the right time given the Warriors were playing without veteran forward Draymond Green.
The Warriors have come to a big realization on Trayce Jackson-Davis
Making his first start since the November 30 game in Phoenix, Jackson-Davis quickly made up for lost time in a dominant opening stint that yielded six points (3-of-3 shooting), six rebounds, an assist and two blocks in just over six first-quarter minutes.
The second-year center also had eight big points and was a +9 in nearly 10 fourth-quarter minutes, finishing the game with an equal season-high 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting to go with nine rebounds in the 10-point win.
Jackson-Davis' nearly 26 minutes on Saturday were also a season-high, perhaps indicating that he'll be back as a stronger part of the rotation after a slightly underwhelming start to the season. Head coach Steve Kerr certainly suggested so during his post-game press conference, hinting that he'll lean more into Jackson-Davis going forward.
"We gotta lean into Trayce I think. He started the season well -- started the first 15 or whatever games. Because of different circumstances we went away from him. He's really responded well but having a big who can finish like that in the paint makes a big difference, you can see that tonight," Kerr said.
The 24-year-old missed just one shot and threw down some vicious slams against the Timberwolves, but it's actually been his inability to finish that's left many frustrated with his second-year form.
Jackson-Davis is shooting just 42.1% on layups this season, down from 58.9% during his rookie year. His aggression, intensity and overall impact on both ends of the floor has waned at times this season, but that was back in a big way against 4x Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.
Gobert had 18 points and 12 rebounds himself but did play nearly 37 minutes, while he was a -3 in the game as opposed to Jackson-Davis' +7. It remains to be seen whether the former 57th overall pick can re-secure the starting center role over the long-term, but you'd imagine Kerr will go back to the Green-Jackson-Davis front court combination that started the first 17 games when the Warriors visit Indiana to play the Pacers on Monday.
