Getty Jordan Poole of the Golden State Warriors.
Friday’s win marked the third straight for the Golden State Warriors. The Dubs were able to battle back from being down as many as 11 points in the fourth quarter to overcome the Philadelphia 76ers.
Sixers head coach Doc Rivers sat down with the media after his team’s 120-112 loss at Chase Center. He discussed what went wrong for his squad against the Warriors, name-dropping Jordan Poole in the process.
“Sometimes you want to beat a team (so badly) so each guy starts trying to do it themselves,” Rivers said via the Jump View YouTube channel. “And then defensively, I thought we were just shallow. Not having D-House (Danuel House), not having Jaden (McDaniels), we didn’t have enough guys defensively. Their bench really hurt is, (Jordan) Poole had an amazing game. We really needed more length on the floor and didn’t have the guys.”
Poole showed out against the Sixers. The young guard poured in a team-high 33 points in 32 minutes off the bench for Golden State.
Rivers later went on to praise the Warriors, saying that their ability to get inside is extremely dangerous.
“Once you let them go downhill and get in the paint, that’s where all the bad stuff happens,” Philly’s coach explained. “And we talk about that all the time with them. People worry about their three ball, and they made them tonight, but it’s their ability to get into the paint that creates it all. I thought they did that the entire second half.”
Steve Kerr Shouts Out Jordan Poole After Warriors Beat 76ers
Poole was a discussion point of each head coach’s postgame availability. Golden State’s Steve Kerr took some time to shine light on the 23-year-old’s big night.
“Yeah, I mean, he had such a great playoff run last year,” Kerr said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “Had so many big games for us. And tonight, something about it felt like last year in that playoff run, when Jordan is just attacking and knocking down shots but also getting to the line. Just giving us an entirely different dimension offensively, and that’s when he’s at his best. I thought he really competed down the stretch defensively as well. He was magnificent tonight.”
Jordan Poole Explains Difference in 2023 Warriors
Poole’s scoring outburst earned him an appearance at the podium later in the evening. When speaking to the media, he explained the difference between this season’s Warriors team, and last season’s.
“Yeah, this is a bit different. We had a little bit different of a team last year,” Poole said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “We had a couple of older guys. Different dynamic in terms of defense. It’s a bit different when you got certain guys out there like Loon (Kevon Looney) or Draymond (Green) or Wiggs (Andrew Wiggins) or Gary (Payton II). They just have such a defensive presence, you can kind of freestyle a little bit more and play off of rhythm. Comes with chemistry. Comes with time. As for offense, I mean, try to just be aggressive, attack, get to the paint, and try to get these guys open looks. Try to get them easy shots. And then just kind of play off of that.”