Getty Jordan Poole of the Golden State Warriors.
The Golden State Warriors have started to figure things out. They have struggled a lot this year, and considering they won the NBA Championship last season, it’s surely been a disappointing year thus far. However, with two road wins in a row under their belt, they have to be feeling good.
They have struggled on the road all season but managed to take down the Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks in consecutive away games. On Wednesday against the Mavericks, however, there was an odd incident that allowed them to get an open basket, and Kevon Looney spoke about it after the game, crediting Jordan Poole.
“Yeah, I didn’t know what was going on,” Looney said via NBA Sports Bay Area. “I’m just glad JP passed it to me. Because everyone else was open, and I needed that to get to my double-double. So, thank you, JP.”
On the play in question, the Mavericks thought it was their ball coming out of the timeout, but somewhere along the way, it was determined to be Warriors basketball. And since both teams assumed it was their ball, they both lined up under their own baskets.
The refs handed the ball to Poole for the inbound play, and he dished it to Looney for an open layup. Needless to say, the Mavericks were displeased, especially considering they only lost the game by two points.
After the game, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that Dallas would be protesting the outcome of the game.
“The Dallas Mavericks plan to file to the NBA a formal protest of their 127-125 loss to the Golden State Warriors tonight, with focus on alleged referee mistake that led to two free Warriors points late in the third quarter, source tells @TheAthletic @Stadium,” Charania tweeted.
Steve Kerr Credits Jordan Poole After Win Over Mavs
Regardless of the weird play, the Warriors still pulled off a huge win over Dallas. After the game, head coach Steve Kerr credited Poole and the rest of Golden State’s bench for their play.
“We have to treat every game now like it’s a playoff game because that’s basically what it is,” Kerr said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “We’re fighting with seven other teams. Trying to jockey for either playoff position or an actual playoff berth or a Play-In birth, depending on how it all plays out. I talked with you last week, and we spoke about how much every game matters now and how our guys just have to go out and compete and play. We’re down a lot of players right now with injuries. I was really inspired just watching guys come off the bench and play well. [Jonathan] Kuminga was amazing tonight JaMychal Green gave us huge minutes off the bench. [Anthony] Lamb, Moses [Moody], JP [Poole] made some big plays. So, it’s great. Guys are competing, and they’re fighting.”
Stephen Curry Praises Jonathan Kuminga
Meanwhile, Stephen Curry showed love to Kuminga.
“He’s showing his ability was a two-way guy,” Curry said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “Being comfortable out there, taking on the challenge defensively, and also finding his spots offensively. Cutting. Using his athleticism. He knocked down two threes in the first half, I think. So, just to know he’s just getting more comfortable as time goes on with what we’re asking him to do defensively and him finding his sweet spots in our system. I hope he’s having fun doing it as well because it’s obviously showing up in the statute and helping us win, but it’s also- that eye test says that he looks comfortable out there. So, that means a lot.”