Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was all praise on Jordan Poole, who carried the team to a much-needed win of 120-114 against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night. Poole scored 32 points for the Dubs as he came up with his best.
In fact, GSW was without the services of their talisman Steph Curry, Andrew Wiggins, and Draymond Green. Poole replaced Kevon Looney in the starting five and he was able to deliver for the team.
In fact, GSW was leading by 12 at one stage against the Cavaliers after the end of the third quarter and Poole said that the team is learning from their experience. The Dubs had a similar lead against Boston Celtics but they failed to close out the match.
“It was a learning experience yesterday,” Poole said. “It was something that we were very aware of. It kind of was a very similar situation, being up with six minutes left and then it became a close game. We knew we needed to lock down, get some stops and make a good run. We needed to close it out and we did. Now we have to build on it.”
Poole scored on 10-of-23 shooting, including 5-of-12 from 3. The team’s coach Steve Kerr was delighted with Poole’s performance.
“He’s continuing to grow and he’s continuing to get better,” Kerr said. “In the last two games, he was fantastic … To play that way tonight without Steph and Klay and Wiggs and Dray, to give us that scoring and that force, he made so many plays out there. He set the tone … He’s getting better and better. There is still so far to go, which is exciting.”
Meanwhile, GSW smashed 23 three-pointers, the most they have scored without Steph Curry in their line-up.
“You play 82 games, you’re only going to have a few of these (3-point shooting nights). We knew we were going to have to have one to win,” Kerr said.
“Everybody on our team is confident,” Poole said. “And shout-out to Coach Kerr for allowing us to play with that confidence. We know what we are capable of. We were spacing the floor and getting good looks. We got laser-focused.”
GSW now have a 23-23 record and they will next take on Brooklyn Nets on Sunday night.
