good news:former worriors star is back to…..
Over the final 5:33 of the third quarter, Jackson-Davis did his most spectacular work, scoring seven points, grabbing three rebounds and blocking three shots. The blocks – two of which came against Antetokounmpo – were impactful enough to tilt the game toward the Warriors.
The decision to play Jackson-Davis – at the expense of Dario Sarić, who entered only after the game was decided – was based on the reality of what is ahead for the Warriors. Their big men – Draymond Green, Kevon Looney and Jackson-Davis – will confront some daunting challenges down the stretch, particularly with most contenders rolling out 7-footers.
“We’re going to need Loon in the playoffs,” Kerr said. “There’s going to be matchups where we’re going to need him. I know I can trust him.
“But we’ve got to get Trayce more minutes to get him ready for the playoffs because he needs reps. He needs more time. You can see what he did tonight. He has an ability to finish and to block shots that gives us a different look.”
To make the kind of late-season run that can vault the Warriors into the top six of the conference standings, there absolutely must be a rim presence on defense and vertical spacing on offense. Only Jackson-Davis, at 6-foot-9 but with a 40-inch vertical leap, brings that.
“The playoffs are a different beast,” Jackson-Davis said. “We’ve got a lot of vets on the team, so me and (Brandin Podziemski) are going to rely on them a lot. But just coming in here and getting this game experience against great teams, be able to go out and perform just play as hard as you can, that’s the biggest thing for me.”