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Trayce Jackson-Davis, the 57th overall pick, punctuated the Golden State Warriors‘ bounce-back win against the San Antonio Spurs with a poster dunk over No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama.
“I saw that he overplayed it, and he overplayed it to my right. Obviously, I’m left-handed,” Jackson-Davis told reporters after the win. “So, I think I spun or got to my left hand and then I had to step on him. I just tried him. I told (Kevon Looney) before the game that if I got the chance to try him, I would. At the end of the day, sometimes you dunk on people, sometimes you get dunked on. It’s just a basketball play.”
The whole Warriors bench, including coach Steve Kerr, exploded when Jackson-Davis posterized Wembanyama in the final minute.
“It just doesn’t seem human,” Kerr told reporters in awe of his 6-foot-9 rookie’s poster over the 7-foot-4 generational player from France.
“That’s two guys about as high as humanly possible and you know, one guy barely getting the ball over the other guy’s arm. That’s what NBA fans come to to see.”
The dunk was the highlight of the night for Jackson-Davis, whose double-double performance helped the Warriors spoil Wembanyama’s return from an ankle injury for a 112-102 victory on Monday night, March 11, at San Antonio, avenging their 126-113 home loss to the Spurs on March 9.
“I watched [it] a few times,” Jackson-Davis said on “The Morning Roast” on 95.7 The Game on Tuesday, March 12. “It’s funny, one big play like that happens, everyone wants to send it to you like like you haven’t seen it. I’ve seen it a few times.”
Jackson-Davis finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists off the bench to counter Wembanyama’s 27-point, 14-rebound, 2-block effort.
Trayce Jackson-Davis’ Rapid Development
Jackson-Davis’ dunk over Wembanyama is the latest addition to his burgeoning ledger of NBA highlights after his crazy blocks on Milwaukee Bucks’ two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo last week.
His emergence has pushed Looney, a pillar of the Warriors’ dynasty, out of the rotation.
The Warriors rookie is embracing the challenge. He held his ground when Draymond Green fouled out in the fourth quarter. With him as the Warriors’ rim protector, they only allowed a solitary point in the final 2:43 right after Green exited.
Golden State outscored San Antonio by 20 in Jackson-Davis’ 27 minutes off the bench, the best plus-minus from both teams.
“It’s not easy to do,” Kerr told reporters. “Obviously [Green] is our best defender but it was also an indication of how good Trayce was. He was incredible tonight at both ends.”
Through six games in March, the Warriors’ rookie big man is averaging 10.7 points on an incredible 84.8% field goal shooting with 6.3 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks in 20.7 minutes as Green’s chief backup.
“Trayce is really giving us a different dynamic from that spot and it’s really fun to see him growing and developing.”
Warriors’ 3rd Quarter Surge
The Warriors overcame a slow start as they trailed by 11 in the opening quarter. They used a 26-4 run in the third quarter to finally wrest control of the game.
“We were better connected in the second half and as that went, we picked up some momentum and got multiple stops in a row and that changed the game.”
Jonathan Kuminga scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half while Klay Thompson added 21 in his return to the starting lineup to fill Stephen Curry‘s void.
The Warriors improved to 34-30, trailing the resurgent Los Angeles Lakers (36-30) by one game for the ninth spot in the Western Conference.
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