Poole proves he doesn't need to start to be a star for Warriors
MEMPHIS >> For the first time in these playoffs, Jordan Poole began the game on the bench.
The bench is not an unfamiliar place for the 22-yearold guard. He bounced between the starting lineup and a reserve role during the season as the Warriors juggled Klay Thompson's return and Steph Curry's injury.
And while flip-flopping can take its toll on a young talent like Poole, he was the star in the Warriors' thrilling 117-116 win on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.
“Jordan was phenomenal,” coach Steve Kerr said. “It's amazing to have a second playmaker next to Steph or in place of Steph when he goes to the bench.”
The Warriors were down 13 points to Memphis with Draymond Green ejected due to a flagrant-2 foul before halftime. Poole led Golden State back into control of Sunday's game with a team-high 31 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds.
Poole's 17 second-half points were some of the Warriors' most important in their thrilling comeback. He found lanes to the rim past Ja Morant and an imperfect Grizzlies interior defense and pulled up fearlessly from beyond the 3-point arc.
Not bad for a bench guy. “I'm just playing,” Poole
said. “I know it's pretty important, the way you start the second half. Go out and do what we need to do and get in rhythm.”
Poole was working in perfect rhythm, not only in finding his spots to score but distributing the ball and playing aggressive on the boards. He scored four times in a crucial third quarter when the Warriors found their rhythm and a lead — twice on finger-roll layups that exposed the Grizzlies' interior defense and twice from the perimeter. He scored three times in the fourth quarter, including two layups that helped
extend a tenuous Warriors lead midway through.
Most importantly, Poole stepped up into playmaking duties the minute Green was ejected. He was zipping passes into the paint to cutting teammates for easy dunks and feeding his fellow guards, Curry and Thompson, to keep the offense moving. He had four assists in the fourth quarter.
“Jordan has developed such a great floor game,” Thompson said. “He made some huge shots, deep shots too. With him and Steph in the lineup, they can both play off-ball and handle the ball and occupy the defense
by coming off screens. We needed everything from everyone tonight. It was a gutsy win.”
A playoff newbie next to Curry and Thompson, Poole is proving each game that he's one of them.
“Sample size isn't that big. Every game is an opportunity to keep growing,” Curry said. “That's what we talked about coming into these playoffs, peaking at the right time. We have to figure it out on the fly with this particular group that hasn't been together for long.”
Poole knows adjusting on the fly may have him off the bench sometimes.