On a night when former Indiana basketball star Trayce Jackson-Davis scored his first career NBA regular season points, he also had a standout performance in just game two of his career.
Jackson-Davis, who was selected 57th overall in this summer’s NBA Draft, was the talk of the town last night as he scored 13 points and added nine rebounds and four blocks. He was 5-for-9 from the field and 3-for-4 from the free throw line.
He played 20 minutes – his first extended minutes of his NBA career.
“Just aways being ready,” Trayce Jackson-Davis said postgame. “These guys instill a lot of confidence in me and expect me to go out and perform when your name is called. I found out I was playing kind of this morning, so you’ve always got to be ready.”
Despite just a two-point lead at the half, the Golden State Warriors would go on to win 130-102 over the Pelicans, behind 42 points from Steph Curry.
Jackson-Davis’ first two points came off of his patented pick and roll game alongside Chris Paul.
Jackson-Davis has clearly shown the ability to play a nice role off of the bench as a rim protector, screener, passer and rebounder. All of the little things that don’t necessarily standout in the box score but are valuable assets to any team — especially this Warriors team.
“Just building confidence and when he’s (Chris Paul) passing you the ball that instills a lot of confidence to go make plays,” Jackson-Davis said. “As the game went on, just trying to see the flow, attacking when you’re supposed to attack and passing out to open shooters when you’re supposed to do that.”
During his Indiana basketball career, Jackson-Davis collected 50 double-doubles, third in program history. It took him just a few games in the NBA preseason to collect his first double-double.
On Monday, he was initially given 10 rebounds but one rebound was taken away after a stat adjustment. So, he’ll have to stick with a classic rookie nickname … for now.
“I had a nickname on the team. Whenever I got my first double-double, the nickname subsided and I got called Trayce. So the nickname before was ‘Baby T’. They said once you get your first double-double, they thought it would be a little later, so back to Trayce,” Jackson-Davis said, singling out Draymond Green as someone who was leading the nickname talk.
Trayce Jackson-Davis’ resume goes without saying as he enters his rookie year in the NBA. He was a four-year starter at Indiana, four-time All-Big Ten selection and two-time All-American — including a consensus first-team selection last season.
He’s been on record numerous times how much playing for Mike Woodson helped his development. He didn’t back down when asked about his time at IU following Monday’s win.
“Coach Woodson did a great job preparing me in the two years he had me,” Jackson-Davis added. “Just basically the style of offense that we ran, the defensive coverages all translated over so it’s a huge thanks to him and the Indiana family.”
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Alec Lasley is the owner of Hoosier Illustrated, a comprehensive site covering news, updates and recruiting for Indiana University athletics. Alec has covered Indiana for six years and is a credentialed media member. He has previously worked for both Rivals and 247Sports.