On it’s face, Friday night’s penultimate game of the season two days before a dramatic finale against the Grizzlies in a winner-take-all game to decide the No. 8 seed was meaningless. It doesn’t matter that the Warriors beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 125-122, at Chase Center. They still need a victory Sunday to earn the more favorable spot in the play-in tournament.
The goal was just to get through the game healthy, and the Warriors rested Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins ahead of what is essentially Golden State’s first playoff game. A brief scare aside, Jordan Poole used the opportunity to set a new career-high in points, score the game-winning basket and highlight why he deserves to be a part of the Warriors’ future.
Starting for the seventh time this season, Poole scored 37 points to carry Golden State (38-33) to a win over the short-handed Pelicans (31-40), playing without stars Zion Williamson, Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram.
Poole got off to a quick start, scoring 14 points in the first quarter of his career night. He poured in shots from all over the floor, going 12 for 22 overall, making 4 of 9 from beyond the arc, railing a handful of shots in the mid-range and finishing a fast break with a rare dunk.
But in the second half, it appeared the Warriors might have suffered a disastrous loss in a game with seemingly nothing to lose. Two minutes into the third quarter, Poole landed awkwardly on Pelicans’ center Willy Hernangomez’s foot and twisted his left ankle. He was able to walk off to the locker room under his own power, and returned to the game shortly thereafter to the cheers of a socially-distanced crowd.
The very fact that fans have begun cheering for Poole is emblematic of his rise this season. By the end of his rookie season in which he struggled to make shots and averaged 8.8 points on 33% shooting (28% from 3-point range), Poole graded out as one of the worst players in the league — FiveThirtyEight.com ranked him 244th out of 250 players.
Poole used the offseason to improve. No player worked out at Chase Center more, and a midseason stint in the G League bubble gave him the confidence and tools to carve out a role as a much-needed bench scorer.
When the Pelicans rallied from 19 points down and took a late lead, the Warriors turned to Poole. Before Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s layup put New Orleans up by one with 25.9 seconds to go, Curry talked with his protege on the sideline. On Golden State’s next possession, Poole curled around a screen, drove to the basket and finished with the go-ahead layup in traffic with 21.4 seconds left. His free throws with 0.2 seconds sealed the win and Golden State’s first five-game win streak of the season.
Extending that streak on Sunday would give the Warriors the No. 8 spot in the play-in tournament and put them in position to return to the playoffs. The play-in tournament matches the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds, with the winner claiming the No. 7 seed in the playoffs. The loser of that game plays the winner of the 9-10 matchup, with the winner taking the No. 8 seed.
The play-in begins next week with Eastern Conference teams playing Tuesday and Thursday and Western Conference teams playing Wednesday and Friday. The playoffs start May 22.
