Warriors vanquish Raptors as Poole and Wiggins take center stage

LET'S PULL OUT THE RECEIPTS.

For the second game in a row, the Golden State Warriors knocked off an Eastern Conference team behind Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins putting up big scoring numbers. The difference was this time Stephen Curry and Draymond Green were on the court with them, as opposed to the other night in Detroit when they were injury scratches.

As the 22-year old Poole and 26-year old Wiggins step more and more into the limelight, I just want to reflect on how far we’ve come as a fanbase. For context, I grew up in a culture of basketball conversations where people will celebrate your good takes like you’re a savant and dog you for bad takes until the day you die. It’s a humorous way to bond and perpetual fodder for barbershop chat.

I’m sure there will be somebody at my funeral muttering “remember when he said they shoulda traded Steph over Monta” and sending a wave of nostalgic giggles throughout my buddy group. And I will haunt them from beyond for their disrespect.

Anyways, here’s a brief set of receipts from the “Poole Shouldn’t Be a Warrior” files.

JoeyLightyears @LacobJinx

JORDAN POOLE HAS NO ANSWERS!!! Worst draft pick of Bob Myers.

Eli Hershkovich @EliHershkovich

Drafting Jordan Poole over Bol Bol or Keldon Johnson. Bob Myers must still be recovering from his decision to play Durant.

#ThankYouBuster @CandlestickWill

Imagine if Bob Myers was good at drafting and we had Keldon Johnson instead of Jordan Poole

Poor Man's Commish @poormanscommish

Jordan Poole made me eat my words in 24 hours. I saw far less bad decisions today. Maybe all he really needed to do was play more. I will shut up now until the G League Bubble is over lol.

Poor Man's Commish @poormanscommish

Jordan Poole imo does not fit the culture or #KerrSytem, which demands high IQ. That’s not a knock on his game. I just see him contrasting so much with the Warriors culture. Perhaps it overlaps into the Q&As/podium. He might fit better with the Nets or Clippers, 76ers under Doc

And then there’s Wiggins, who has been the subject of countless arguments within Dub Nation for allegedly not deserving his big-time contract, a contract that was supposed to handcuff the Warriors from ever developing a complete roster. You know it’s funny, the Bay Area is supposedly known for being anti-racism, but plenty Warriors fans hated to see a black man get handsomely paid and create generational wealth in his community when it came to Wiggins HMMMMMMMMM OPEN YOUR EYES PEOPLE.

Lmao, I’ll let Nick Wright sum up all that handwringing.

First Things First @FTFonFS1

"Andrew Wiggins is a bad basketball player. He's owed $95M over the next 3 years, starting next year. It's unspeakable the Warriors did this. ... It's over for them now. We will never see Steph in another NBA Finals again. Ever." — @getnickwright

Lol. Last night Curry was 2-of-10 from the field with 8 assists, but the Warriors cruised to the finish line of a 119-104 victory over the Toronto Raptors in part because Poole and Wiggins were BALLING. Poole scored 33 points on 10-of-13 shooting (8-of-11 beyond the arc) while Wiggins added 32 points on 12-of-20 shooting (6-of-8 from downtown).

Golden State Warriors @warriors

Jordan - 33 PTS. 10-13 FG, 8-11 3FG Andrew - 32 PTS, 12-20 FG, 6-8 3FG First pair of Dubs teammates since 2019 to each drop 30+ points in the same game. ROLL THE TAPE 📽️

Marcus Thompson @ThompsonScribe

Per Elias, the last time the Warriors had two players score 30 or more in the same game and neither was Steph Curry or Klay Thompson: April 16, 2014. The two players: Harrison Barnes Jordan Crawford

StatMuse @statmuse

Jordan Poole tonight: 33 PTS 10-13 FG 8-11 3P (career-high) Only one other Warriors player in franchise history has ever scored that many points on 13 shots or fewer — Kevin Durant.

With Curry warping the defense to track his every move, and Draymond Green quarterbacking GSW’s defense (14 rebounds) and offense (8 assists), there was plenty of room for Poole and Wiggins to get busy.

Marcus Thompson @ThompsonScribe

Steve Kerr: “Draymond Green is the best defender in the world.”

Remember when there was that real heavy conversation about trading Wiggins and two lottery picks for Siakim lmao.

Brady Klopfer @BradyKlopferNBA

It's basically impossible for the Warriors to trade for Siakam without including Andrew Wiggins, but Wiggins + No. 7 + Wiseman for Siakam is still an absolute no-brainer for Golden State.

Leo Herbstman @LeoHerbstman

@BontaHill Siakam is a superstar in the making. Wiseman is for a team building for the future and Wiggins is slightly above average. That’s a steal for the Warriors.

The same Siakim that was a -18 plus/minus on the floor last night and couldn’t guard Wiggins to save his life?

ʙʀᴜᴄᴇ ʟᴇᴇ-ʀᴏʏ🥡🥋 @iconic_roy

“Trade Wiggins for siakam”

Okay let’s put the receipts away for today. There will be plenty more to roll out as this team continues to smash opponents. The Dubs ran the Raptors out of the gym with stingy defense, non-stop motion on offense, and dead-eye shooting. The beatings will only get worse when Klay Thompson and James Wiseman are back on the floor; get ready.

Marc J. Spears @MarcJSpears

The Warriors are beating teams by an average of 13.1 points per game. Golden State is currently the only NBA team with a double-digit point differential. Second in the NBA is the Jazz at 9.7.