Indiana in NBA Playoffs: Trayce Jackson-Davis' Rookie Season Ends With Loss to Kings
Former Indiana All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis had a productive year with the Golden State Warriors, but his rookie season came to an end Tuesday with a loss to the Sacramento Kings in the Play-In Tournament. Other former Hoosiers Cody Zeller and Thomas Bryant are also competing in the Play-In Tournament.
The 2024 NBA Playoffs began Tuesday night with two Play-In Tournament games, and both matchups featured former Indiana Hoosiers.
The Sacramento Kings defeated the Golden State Warriors 118-94 in the second game, ending the Warriors' season. The Kings advance to face the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday, and the winner will earn the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference and play a seven-game series against the No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder beginning Sunday.
The Kings' win over the Warriors marks the end of former Indiana Hoosier Trayce Jackson-Davis' rookie season. He started the game but finished with just two points and one rebound in 11 minutes of action, as Warriors coach Steve Kerr opted to give Jonathan Kuminga more minutes off the bench.
Still, Jackson-Davis had a strong rookie season despite being drafted No. 57 overall following his All-American senior season at Indiana. He started 16 games and played in 68, logging 16.6 minutes per game. He averaged 7.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.1 blocks per game. His 70.2% field goal percentage ranks fourth in the NBA among players with at least 175 attempts, and it's No. 1 all-time among Hoosiers with at least 300 field goal attempts in a single NBA season.
NBA.com recently projected that Jackson-Davis would make the NBA All-Rookie second team, making him one of the league's 10 best rookies. Though the Warriors' season is over earlier than they would have liked, Jackson-Davis turned out to be a perfect fit. On a team with sharpshooters Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, Jackson-Davis filled an important role as a lob threat in the pick-and-roll game, and he contributed as a rebounded and shot-blocker.
Throughout the season, Jackson-Davis discussed how his experience at Indiana help ease the transition to the NBA.
"Yeah, playing basketball at a high level, playing for something," Jackson-Davis said Monday. "Obviously with me being the leader of my team and always having the opposing team trying to take me away, I've learned how to adjust to that. So the matchups, the scouting reports, all that stuff, I always try to hone in on. Then having coach Woodson, he really helped me look at different things that I can see throughout a game. So I'm trying to apply that to here."
In Tuesday's first game, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 110-106, though Lakers' rookie and former Hoosier Jalen Hood-Schifino remains out for the season with a back injury. Cody Zeller, a Big Ten champion at Indiana, has played in 43 games for the Pelicans this year, but he didn't see the court Tuesday night either.
With this win, the Lakers advanced past the Play-In Tournament and earned the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference. They'll play the No. 2 seed and defending champion Denver Nuggets in a seven-game series beginning Saturday. Zeller and the Pelicans' season is still alive, as they'll play the Kings on Friday.
The Play-In Tournament continues on Wednesday, beginning with a matchup between the Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. This game features former Hoosier Thomas Bryant, who's averaging 5.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game for the Heat across 38 games.
The winner of that game advances to face the No. 2 seed New Yorks Knicks in a seven-game series beginning on Saturday. The loser plays the winner of Wednesday's second Play-In Tournament game at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN between the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks for a chance to play the No. 1 seed Boston Celtics in the first round.
