‘For a rookie, it’s amazing what he’s doing’: Trayce Jackson-Davis turns in career-high 20 points as stellar rookie year continues

Former Indiana basketball star forward Trayce Jackson-Davis has had a phenomenal rookie season for the Golden State Warriors — and on Thursday night, he turned in a career-best performance up to this point.

Trayce Jackson-Davis finished with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor, with five rebounds and four assists in 28 minutes. He started in the Warriors 133-110 win over the Houston Rockets.

Jackson-Davis has taken a step up with his production and in his minutes over the last month. In the last 15 games, he is averaging 11.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.7 blocks per game in 25.3 minutes. He’s started seven of the last 15 games, including the last five.

“Trayce and Draymond together have changed our team. It’s pretty dramatic, the rim protection and rebounding that Trayce gives us and what that allows Draymond to do,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said postgame. “Trayce, for a rookie, it’s amazing what he’s doing.”

Nine of the last 15 games have yielded double-digit scoring games. His previous career-high before Thursday’s 20-point outburst was 19 points. He had done that twice previously.

“I’m just taking what the defense gives me,” Trayce Jackson-Davis said. “Staying aggressive but at the same time knowing if a guy comes in, kicking it out because we have shooters everywhere on the floor, or a guy diving. Just doing my part”

“At the end of the day I go out there an play as hard as I can and let that do the talking.”

On the season, Jackson-Davis is averaging 7.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.0 block per game. He has 10 starts in 62 appearances.

Jackson-Davis is shooting 70.7 percent from the field this season.

“Trayce was one of the best players at Indiana in the college scene,” Warriors guard Klay Thompson said. “When you play for four years and you’re NBA ready — you can tell he’s been coached very well. His fundamentals are very good. He’s an NBA-ready player. The value we get from him as the 50-something pick, it’s very special. Give our front office credit for that and give Trayce a ton of credit for just his readiness as a professional.

“It’s very impressive. He’s had such an incredible year. I’d assume he’d ben on one of these all-rookie teams. He’s playing that well.”