Thompson: These old Warriors may have found the fountain of youth again

SAN FRANCISCO — Giannis Antetokounmpo, the NBA’s version of a Rezvani Tank, got a running start going at Trayce Jackson-Davis. The Warriors rookie big man retreated a bit before walling up and absorbing a shoulder in his chest. When Antetokounmpo went up for the righty flip shot, Jackson-Davis stuffed it with his left hand.

That’s when the voice in his head yelled. The one of the excited rookie. Of the Indiana Hoosiers’ all-time leader in blocks. Of the boy whose father is a reputed NBA rim protector.

Oh my god! I just blocked Giannis!

“Definitely on the first one. When I got it, it was like,” Jackson-Davis said, his exploding eyes and wide smile dripping with innocence illustrated his internal glee. “Because he had a step on me, too. But then he tried to put it in front of the rim. So I just …”

He smacked his hands together, punctuating his retelling of the block. He had a new best block ever, supplanting his overtime stuff of a Jaylen Brown dunk in December.

The momentum of the mid-air collision took Jackson-Davis out of bounds. He had no time to savor the moment. Because Antetokounmpo had rummaged for the loose ball and was quickly trying to sneak a reverse layup off the glass.

But Jackson-Davis’ fast-twitch muscles and exceptional timing were ready for Round 2. He blocked Antetokounmpo again. And the Warriors were off in transition.

What a sequence for Trayce Jackson-Davis ‼️

A double-block on one end and an alley-oop from Curry on the other 💪💪

MIL-GSW on ESPN pic.twitter.com/MwM3Mdyl7h

— NBA (@NBA) March 7, 2024

The amazement of the first block had dissipated. The second block produced hype within Jackson-Davis. He wanted to flex. He wanted to stand there and roar from the depths of his gut, bask in the frenzy he caused in Chase Center. But the thing about Jackson-Davis is he knows, understands and embraces who he is in this station of his career.

He immediately thought about running hard down the floor. And he knew better than to start gloating against Antetokounmpo.

“I’ve still gotta earn my stripes,” he said. “Rookie season, we’re gonna keep it cool. I was thinking, ‘Run the floor.’ And I was thinking, ‘I don’t want this man coming back down trying to dunk on me.’ ”

Look at that Indiana University education showing off. Running the floor set him up for an exclamation point to his highlight sequence: a lob dunk from Steph Curry. Smart man.

This was more than a career moment for Jackson-Davis, though. It was a visage of the Warriors’ athleticism. Swapping out older, slower veterans — Kevon Looney, Dario Šarić and sometimes Klay Thompson — for more energetic, explosive youngsters has added a new element, one more aligned with today’s league. Jonathan Kuminga, Andrew Wiggins, Gary Payton II, Brandin Podziemski and the rookie dubbed TJD have shifted the Warriors to a new gear.

Giannis is one of the league’s great athletes. A matchup nightmare for the Warriors squad of grizzled veterans. But Wednesday night, they flexed their pace, their dynamism, their strength. And while they’ve had it on the perimeter, TJD gives it to them on the back line.

The Bucks had cut the Warriors’ 20-point halftime lead to six. It was 83-77 when Jackson-Davis subbed in for Draymond Green, giving their Warriors’ detonation lineup a turn: TJD, Kuminga and Payton with Chris Paul and Curry. They resettled Golden State with a 10-2 run powered by TJD’s blocks and dunks. The Warriors entered the fourth quarter with a 12-point lead and stepped on the gas from there.

It doesn’t always work as well as it did against Milwaukee, who were without Khris Middleton, but the Warriors have that gear. They can turn up their athleticism and match up with many teams in the league. That’s not only massive for the likes of Curry and Green, who are frankly better with these stallions around them, but it’s ideal for matching up in the postseason.

“We’re going to need (Kevon Looney) in the playoffs,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “There’s going to be matchups where we need him. I know I can trust him. But we got to get Trayce more minutes to get him ready for the playoffs because he needs reps, he needs more time. You can see what he did tonight. He has an ability to finish and to block shots that gives us a different look.”

Jackson-Davis gives the Warriors something they don’t have: rim protection. He’s a natural shot blocker. His father, long-time Pacers center Dale Davis — who played for the Warriors during 2004-05 — blocked 1,396 shots in 16 NBA seasons. Those instincts and intangibles were biologically transferred to the son.

“My favorite thing to do,” TJD said. “Besides dunking.”

During his first two years at Indiana, his coach Archie Miller frowned upon weakside rim protection. He wanted Jackson-Davis to instead focus on blocking out. He totaled 97 blocks in his first two seasons with the Hoosiers. But when Mike Woodson took over the program, he liberated Jackson-Davis to go snatch balls out of the air to his heart’s content. He totaled 173 blocks over the next two years, totaling 233 for his career and passing Jeffrey Newton (227) on Indiana’s career blocks list. Jackson-Davis was eighth all-time just with his last two seasons alone.

With the Warriors, he’s up to 43 blocks, most on the team. Draymond Green is second with 34. Jackson-Davis is averaging 2.4 blocks per 36 minutes, which is a pace that rivals Anthony Davis.

By the way, he’d get Antetokounmpo again.

On the third one, Jackson-Davis was far more predatory. Antetokounmpo used a crossover and shoulder to get through Kuminga to the rim. It produced a clean look. But not clean enough. Jackson-Davis was approaching, Windex in hand.

“The third one, I knew I was getting it,” he said. “He was just downhill. He didn’t even see me.”

TJD put Antetokounmpo’s shot to the glass, starting another fast break.

This is not a replay. Another block into slam sequence from TJD. https://t.co/bp643Y5RfV pic.twitter.com/MbGO0poloh

— NBA (@NBA) March 7, 2024

He didn’t stop to celebrate the trifecta. Instead, he ran up the floor. The ball made its way to Paul, who quickly got into a pick-and-roll with his rookie big. Jackson-Davis set the screen, rolled to the rim and a bounce pass in the pocket was his reward.

Antetokounmpo, who was the Bucks’ big man on the floor, was in the paint, had the rotation assignment and was the only thing in TJD’s way. But he didn’t want any smoke. Jackson-Davis took off from outside the paint and dunked it with his left hand. Another sequence with his two favorite things: a block on Antetokounmpo and then a dunk over him.

This time, for a split second, TJD let that inward voice take control. It didn’t produce words. But the non-verbal expression was just as loud. The rookie landed from his soaring dunk and stood still, staring toward the Bucks bench, inhaling the serenade of cheers.

“I did a little stare,” he said. “Just a little one.”

Then, as a rookie should, he ran back on defense.

(Photo: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)