Poole Shines As Porter Jr. Impressed From the Bench in his Warriors’ Debut
An emerging strength continued to shine, and one of the Warriors’ new additions provided a promising sign for Golden State in the season to come.
To start off, third-year guard Jordan Poole slid into the starting lineup in a 121-107 preseason-opening road victory against the Portland Trail Blazers, providing pyrotechnics to the tune of 30 points on 10-17 shooting.
Poole was far and away the most dynamic player on the floor Monday, coming off of screens without the ball and dribbling his way to open looks. The former Michigan guard continued to show his improved confidence from distance, hitting seven of his 13 triples.
Two of them were of the highlight variety.
At the end of the first quarter, Poole gave the team a one-point lead with a three-pointer from the hashmark released just before the light.
Then, as if one deep three weren’t enough, Poole decided he had to emulate his two-time MVP starting backcourt mate for a second time. With about five minutes left in the third period, Poole corralled a long rebound, took three dribbles to cross the Trail Blazer logo and hit a near 30-footer.
After a stint in the G League bubble last season, Poole has emerged as confident as ever with a performance to back that swagger up. He provides the team with energy and spacing in either the starting lineup without Klay Thompson or as the first guard off of the bench upon the second Splash Brother’s return, and led the contest Monday night with his +21.
His playmaking and shot-creating off the dribble were also evident from the Moda Center in the team’s first full-roster game of the campaign. Poole complemented shooting over 50% from distance with his utility in the pick-and-roll, like in a particularly nice two-man game with Andre Iguodala on the possession before his second deep triple.
So, if you are a Warriors fan concerned about the starting role before Thompson’s return to the floor at some point in the season, or one of the decreasing number of holdouts on Poole, you can probably rest more easily after the latter’s showing against the Trail Blazers – his five rebounds, five assists and two blocks are also worth mentioning.
The other bright star from a night of promising signs for Golden State was a potential X-Factor in a title chase who could amount to being a key rotation piece.
Otto Porter Jr. was the second-leading scorer on the night, scoring 19 points in 18 minutes to match Damian Lillard’s own 19-point performance. A career 40% 3-point shooter, Porter Jr. hit four of his seven attempts, spreading the floor and connecting from the corner and the wing.
A recent Monte Poole article for NBC Sports said a version of Porter Jr. that stays off of the injured list would be the best pure three-point shooter the Splash Brothers have ever played with. Monte Poole acknowledged the obvious omission of Kevin Durant such a statement implies, but let’s not lose the point – Porter Jr. is a skilled wing who can stretch the floor.
Furthermore, Stephen Curry and Thompson have played with great shooters before, but not all of them boast the six-foot-eight frame Porter Jr. can lean back on.
With Andrew Wiggins, Iguodala, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Jonathan Kuminga, and Porter Jr., the Warriors have the dynamic wings to keep teams on their back feet and push the ball on offense.
The combination of spacing and athleticism is seen as key in the modern NBA, and Porter Jr. showed his ability in Portland to contribute in a major way.
Poole and Porter Jr. will also be important pieces if the Warriors put up the amount of threes (69) they did tonight consistently, as Steve Kerr indicated they would after Monday’s contest. Hopefully, there is more of the same on the way.
(Photo credit: Jeff Chiu/The Associated Press)