The story behind Trayce Jackson-Davis’ momentum-shifting block on Jaylen Brown
SAN FRANCISCO — Trayce Jackson-Davis saw everything he needed to see in a split second.
Jaylen Brown had the ball at the top of the key with every intention of driving to the rim. It was overtime, the Warriors up four with 2:30 minutes remaining and Klay Thompson the only body directly in front of him.
Brown bumped Thompson, burst around him, switched the ball to his weaker left hand and began to levitate for what would have been an easy layup.
Jackson-Davis was one step ahead of the All-Star, meeting Brown at the apex to swipe the ball off the backboard. His teammates’ hyped screams registered muffled as Jackson-Davis let his muscle memory take him back to the other end.
He blacked out.
“A momentum shifter,” Jackson-Davis said. “I don’t even know what happened on the next play.”
The rookie’s block was just one chord in a comeback chorus, the needed defensive precursor to Steph Curry’s high-arching dagger 3 to clinch a 132-126 overtime win against a Boston Celtics team that came to San Francisco toting a 20-5 record.
It was a signature moment in the rookie’s true coming out party, and not even the reason Thompson officially declared Jackson-Davis shed his rookie nickname; Jackson-Davis’ first career double-double — 13 rebounds, 10-points — promoted him from “Baby T” to “Trayce Jr.”
On Tuesday, though, Jackson-Davis wasn’t “Baby T” or even “Trayce Jr.” He transformed into his Indiana University alter ego: “Launching Pad,” a name Hoosiers director of basketball operations Armond Hill coined.
“My nickname was ‘Launching Pad’ because I always come from the weak side to block a shot,” the rookie said. “He’d say ‘Every time someone is going down the lane, you try to get it every time.'”
As Indiana’s “Launching Pad,” Jackson-Davis made those high-flying dunks almost instinctual, a signature move. He remembers twice doing it in games against Michigan and once against Purdue turning a weak-side leaping block into mid-air steal, cupping the ball with his arm — his favorite block from his college days.
But as Jackson-Davis played into his first NBA overtime, a mantra Indiana head coach Mike Woodson preached repeated itself in his mind, too.
“I learned in college,” he said. “When you get to that crunch time it’s all about possessions and stealing possessions.”
Jackson-Davis’ double-double count didn’t even start until he made his first appearance in the second quarter, when it became apparent that the Warriors would need to counter Boston’s potent attack in the paint with a different kind of deterrent at the rim. Draymond Green is suspended, Kevon Looney is a bigger presence against bruising bigs and Dario Saric isn’t quite a scarecrow in the lane.
Jackson-Davis had shown in an extended stretch against the Portland Trail Blazers that he can make up for some of the size Golden State severely lacks against mobile, athletic opponents. From his entry mid-way through the second quarter with the Warriors looking up at a double-digit deficit through a furious comeback during all 28 of his minutes, he made the Celtics crop of superstars start missing.
It was the kind of undeniable impact that should seal Jackson-Davis’ role in the rotation going forward, especially with a thin and defensively limited front court without Green for at least three weeks.
“Trayce was the guy who shifted everything,” coach Steve Kerr said. “Second great game in a row and you can see the impact he makes. So he’s going to play.”
After Green’s suspension, the Warriors had a team meeting to get their minds right. One of Jackson-Davis’ biggest takeaways was a shifting of priorities: Instead of looking ahead to the playoffs, minding the dynasty’s mortality, a team in disarray needs to find the joy in discovering an identity game-by-game. So far, that’s meant leaning on the unpredictability of youth to match opposing teams’ youthful energy. Jackson-Davis might be the latest on board.
“Everyone wants to win but we’re so focused on winning and focused on all that and championships that we kind of forgot why we play the game and love the game,” he said. “Playing for each other, being great teammates. When you have great teammates, great things happen.”