Warriors face instant regret over another controversial rotation decision

Trayce Jackson-Davis has continued his impressive form in recent weeks, playing a pivotal role in the Golden State Warriors' 120-107 victory over the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on Monday.

The third-year center was impactful from the moment he entered Monday's game in the first-quarter, providing head coach Steve Kerr with instant regret over the controviersial decision to leave Jackson-Davis out of the rotation in Sunday's overtime loss to the Toronto Raptors.

Warriors face instant regret over benching Trayce Jackson-Davis

Jackson-Davis' re-emergence as a two-way presence had led Golden State to being a +32 in his minutes over the previous eight games before this most recent back-to-back. Even with the return of Al Horford on Christmas Day against the Dallas Mavericks, Jackson-Davis still played over 12 minutes and had 10 points and five rebounds on 5-of-6 shooting.

Yet when it came to Sunday's matchup where the Raptors went small in the absence of starting center Jakob Poeltl, Kerr immediately matched it by predominantly going small and giving Jackson-Davis his first DNP since December 2.

That ultimately proved the wrong decision as the Warriors crumbled down the stretch, having been overpowered by Scottie Barnes who had an incredible nine offensive boards and 25 total rebounds for the game.

Golden State also lacked an interior presence in the opening minutes against the Nets, before Jackson-Davis quickly helped erase what was a 13-point deficit late in the opening period. The 25-year-old had a dunk, two emphatic blocks and two rebounds in five first-quarter minutes, before finishing the game with 11 points, six rebounds, an assist, a steal and two blocks on 5-of-6 shooting in nearly 22 minutes.

More importantly, the Warriors were a +10 with Jackson-Davis on the floor as they recorded an important bounce back win after the disastrous ending against the Raptors where they surrended a seven-point lead with 1:43 to play.

Even despite playing his fourth-most minutes of the season on Monday, there's still a question mark over his role moving forward. Golden State actually stayed small for a large part against the Nets, with Jackson-Davis' minutes coming in lieu of starting center Quinten Post who played less than five minutes and who didn't start the second-half, while Horford was unavailable resting on the second night of a back-to-back.

Kerr did admit post-game that removing Jackson-Davis from the rotation on Sunday felt wrong, meaning we should still see the former 57th overall pick part of the action when the Warriors visit Charlotte to face the Hornets on Wednesday.