Getty Jordan Poole confers with Stephen Curry during a game between the Golden State Warriors and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Although the Golden State Warriors trounced the Lakers at Chase Center on Thursday (sorry, Mr. Bazemore), Dub Nation was stunned to see one of the more impressive streaks in recent memory come to an end. Namely, Jordan Poole’s run of games with 20-plus points scored.
In the end, he finished just one point shy of the mark, scoring 19 points on 15 shots (including a botched dunk attempt during the first quarter). So, at 17 games, his streak officially enters the Warriors’ record books as the third-longest of its kind since 2000.
The game was nonetheless a show-out effort from Poole, as the 22-year-old logged a career-high 11 assists.
That’s just the kind of player he is now — someone who can affect winning in a variety of ways. And hoops pundits have clearly taken note of his seismic leap forward this season.
B/R: Poole Is the Most Improved Player
On Saturday, Bleacher Report put out its final rankings for the NBA’s Most Improved Player award. And while Poole faces stiff competition for the actual trophy, the outlet’s hoops staff voted the Warriors star into the top spot here.
Wrote B/R’s Sean Highkin:
Poole began the year as a starter alongside Stephen Curry in the backcourt, then moved back to the bench in January when Thompson returned and then back to the starting lineup when Curry went down. All the while, he established himself as a reliable scorer and outside shooter, a new cog in the Warriors’ machine that now has greater hope of continuing to be competitive as the Hall of Fame core ages out of its prime.
Poole only narrowly captured the top spot; his 31 points just edged out Cavs guard Darius Garland, who was second in the voting with 30 points. Grizzlies star Ja Morant finished third with 27.
In total, 11 league experts voted with each selecting their top five candidates to win MIP honors. Each first-place vote netted five points, second-place votes were worth four points and so on down to fifth place, which was worth one point.
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Poole Has Arguably Been the Dubs’ Second-Best Player
While some of this is the product of players missing significant chunks of time due to injury, one can make a strong argument for Poole as the Warriors’ second-best player this season, even as Andrew Wiggins was an All-Star.
In 74 appearances — a number that ranks second team-wide — Poole has averaged 18.4 points, 3.9 assists and 3.4 rebounds per contest while shooting 45.4% from the field and 36.8% from deep. Since March 3, his net rating of 5.1 is second only to Steph Curry among Warriors starters.
Meanwhile, Poole is part of three of the Dubs’ five best five-man units (with a minimum of 48 minutes together on the court), including No. 1 overall.
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