Getty Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole celebrate during a game between the Golden State Warriors and the Utah Jazz.
The Golden State Warriors are playing like this is 2016 all over again. Steph Curry has not even started yet, but the Dubs have won by an 18-point average over their first two games against the Denver Nuggets.
Much of the Warriors success has to do with the emergence of Jordan Poole. This shouldn’t be a surprise, as Poole has put up some gaudy scoring numbers throughout the season. The difference now is how the third-year phenom has managed to put up 59 points in his first two career postseason games, while having to share the rock with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.
The team started off this year with a bang, but fell off the radar after some of their stars like Draymond Green and Curry went down with injuries. Now with their core healthy, they have been rolling, winning five straight to close the regular season, and not dropping a single game in the entire month of April yet.
The addition of Poole to Curry and Thompson’s shooting pedigree just makes it tougher for other teams to prepare and make adjustments. Previously, when Curry or Thompson went cold shooting, opponents had a chance to compete and possibly beat the Warriors. Now with the addition of Poole, it alleviates pressure on the Splash Brothers from having an efficient shooting night.
Poole essentially is a reincarnation of Curry, with his ability to score off the dribble and finish at the rim. This current assortment of Warriors is having fans reminisce of the offensive invincibility when Kevin Durant was with the team.
All of this has one Hall of Famer giddy enough to make a playoff prediction already.
Magic Johnson Praises the Warriors
The playoffs are not even a week old, but Magic Johnson seems to have seen enough. Following the Warriors Game 2 126-106 victory, Johnson tweeted his appreciation for how the Warriors have come together to thrive in the postseason.
Now with the Warriors fully healthy, high basketball IQ, Coach Kerr’s ability to make in game adjustments, and with the championship pedigree of Steph, Klay, Draymond and Coach Kerr, I pick them to come out of the west!
The four-time champion has always been one to tweet the obvious, but he does not often tweet out predictions. Much of his tweets are often regurgitating things or events that have just transpired. But the fact he is already making a prediction now, shows that he really believes this Warriors team is special.
Warriors Are Title Favorites Following Devin Booker Injury
Following the hamstring injury to Phoenix Sun’s Devin Booker and the eighth seed New Orleans Pelicans tying up their series against the top seed Suns, FanDuel moved the Golden State Warriors to +350 odds to win the title.
The Suns odds moved to +360, so the Warriors are barely ahead of the Suns with better odds, but that can change quickly depending on the severity of Booker’s injury. He had already been ruled out for Game 3 and 4, but the Suns do have a track record of playing winning basketball, even without Booker or Chris Paul.
If Poole keeps up this offensive production, it will truly be tough to see any other team beat these Warriors four times out of seven. Even with Booker fully healthy and playing, the Dubs have the pedigree and tools to shatter the Suns championships aspirations.