Warriors smash Wizards, pay homage to Jordan Poole's return
Warriors smash Wizards, pay homage to Jordan Poole's return
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES JP!
Poole Party back!
The Golden State Warriors had a homecoming of sorts for beloved former Dub Jordan Poole, as they overcame the visiting Washington Wizards 129-118 in Chase Center.
Poole scored 25 points of 7-of-21 shooting from the field, 3-of-12 from beyond the arc. It must have been very familiar for him as a former champion in the Golden Empire to witness what he saw last night:
A close halftime game turned into a blowout after a devastating 3rd quarter GSW run. Poole’s Wizards trailed 63-61 after two quarters, but after Golden State drowned them with a 38-22 3rd quarter run, the fourth quarter was a mere formality.
There was also a beautiful performance from the Splash Bros who both played for only 27 minutes each and combined for 50 points on 12-of-23 shooting from beyond the arc. Stephen Curry in particular was brilliant to watch, hitting some high degree of difficulty shots to remind Poole of what the golden standard is.
There was also scintillating performances from young Warriors that set the Dub Nation crowd on fire. Poole often filled that role before, dazzling the crowd with performances that filled the fans with hopes for a bright future. This time around it was Jonathan Kuminga and Trayce Jackson-Davis who did their thang
Kuminga scored 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting filling in for Draymond Green, playing with a downhill force that repeatedly put the Wizards in trouble.
And the rookie TJD? Hehehehe. He had 10 points, 15 rebounds, and 3 assists off of the bench!
Two-timelines ain’t dead!
Oh snap, there’s a fresh game in a couple hours!
GAME DETAILS
WHO: Golden State Warriors vs Portland Trail Blazers
WHEN: Saturday, December 23rd, 2023 // 5:30pm PST
WATCH: NBCSBA
New game thread, come on over, the water is fine:
https://dubnationhq.com/p/game-29-gsw-vs-portland-plus-open/comments
One piece of minutiae from this game: The play where Podz and TJD connected for a lob was a type I sort of associate with Trae Young (though a bunch of other guards do it) where, out of the pick and roll, they take it deep enough into the paint that they're within floater range, and then they throw the lob using the same form as they would for the floater. At least on tv, there's a split second where you can't tell whether they've shot the ball or thrown a pass, and it seems to freeze the defense for the same reason. I noticed it because it's not something our other guards really do—partly because we haven't had a prolific lob threat for a while, but also maybe because they don't go to the floater as much from that spot.
Anyway, seems like a play that could be effective for those two.