In Tuesday’s Western Conference series opener, the Golden State Warriors lost to the LA Lakers by five points. Warrior’s star Stephen Curry was double-teamed by Austin Reaves and Jarred Vanderbilt when he found Draymond Green, who then found Jordan Poole for an open shot. Poole missed the shot from outside the 3-point arc that would have tied the game at 115 before the end of regulation. Despite there being 10 seconds left on the game clock when Poole put up the deep 3 — and with Golden State still in possession of one timeout — the Warriors stood by the shot attempt. Poole finished the night with 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including 6-of-11 from 3 — four of which he hit in the second quarter. He also played a pivotal role in the Warriors’ late-game run when they went to a small-ball lineup that brought them back from down 14 and put them in position to steal the game.
After a poor shooting series against the Sacramento Kings that saw Poole shoot 29.1% from the floor and 25.9% from 3 — and never hitting more than eight field goals in a game — his finding some sort of rhythm against Los Angeles was a positive sign for Golden State. The Warriors will need him to outshoot the Lakers who thrive inside the paint. “If we can rebound, going small is to our advantage,” Curry said. “There’s probably three, four possessions where you can see we got a stop, we got the rebound, we got the push. Somebody was open. That’s kind of how we like to play.”
Although the shot was missed and the Warriors lost, many affirm Poole’s attempt, as they believe he was open and the shot was within his range. Warriors coach Steve Kerr had the same sentiment in a statement, saying “I thought Jordan did a really good job,” and “you know, that’s a shot he can hit.” The game was a back and forth through most of the night, though the Lakers led for most of it. Regardless, Poole’s strong game helped set the Warriors up to make their late-game comeback, which ultimately fell short.
