Getty Members of the Golden State Warriors celebrate after Jordan Poole hits a three-pointer.
Stephen Curry received most of the fanfare following his epic fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday. The other half of the Golden State Warriors‘ starting backcourt had a pretty impressive finish in the victory over Los Angeles too though.
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Late in the third quarter on Sunday, during a drive to the basket, Dubs shooting guard Jordan Poole was swatted by Clippers big man Isaiah Hartenstein and went tumbling to the floor. Hartenstein reveled in the moment.
JP got hot immediately after this tech on Hartenstein 🙃
With the third-year Warriors player having struggled to the tune of 2-for-10 shooting up until that point, it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see that be yet another play in a string of rough minutes for Poole to close out the contest. Instead, he used the Hartenstein celebration as motivation to carry him to a monster end of the quarter that, along with Steph’s masterpiece in the fourth, catapulted the Warriors to their 18th victory of the season.
Poole: ‘[Hartenstein] Did a Lot of Extra Stuff Underneath the Basket’
GettyIsaiah Harteinstein of the Los Angeles Clippers during a game on November 16, 2021.
After Hartenstein’s celebration, scream and stare down of Poole, he was called for a technical foul, which sent Poole to the free throw line. The Warriors guard converted on the freebie and that was apparently all Poole needed to get going.
Poole accounted for the Dubs’ next four field goals – all three-pointers – and he helped stretch the team’s lead from one to seven points.
Jordan Poole three #3 after the taunting tech.
At this point you know he’s targeting Hartenstein on purpose lmao
“They said something in the locker room about it,” Poole said after the game, per 95.7 The Game’s Alex Espinoza. “All I really needed was a free throw to get going. He did a lot of extra stuff underneath the basket.”
Poole Having a Career-Year Through 20 Games
GettyGolden State Warriors shooting guard Jordan Poole during his team’s game against the Detroit Pistons on November 19, 2021.
Poole finished Sunday’s contest with 17 points on 6-for-16 shooting, including 4-for-10 from three-point land. Aside from the closing stretch to the third quarter, it wasn’t one of the 22-year-old’s better performances of the year – as he went to the free throw line just once, finished with just two assists and posted just a +1 in the 15-point win – but it was still Poole’s fifth straight game scoring in double figures and 17th in 20 tries this season.
Based on his standout preseason performance, it wasn’t crazy to think that Poole would put together a breakout season. Through 20 games in the starting lineup this year, the 2019 28th overall pick is posting career-highs in points (18.1), rebounds (3.1), assists (3.4), steals (1.1) and minutes per contest (30.2).
Poole is also shooting a career-best 44.9% from the field and 91.8% from the free throw line.
The Warriors (18-2) travel to take on the Phoenix Suns (17-3) at 10 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
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