Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors went back and forth in the first half of Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. Then, Darvin Ham’s team took intensity up a notch and led by eight points at the end of the third quarter.
It looked like the Lakers had the game in the bag already, holding a 14-point lead with just five minutes left on the clock. That was until the Warriors evened things up with a14-0 run and put some pressure on the visitors.
The Lakers eventually went up by three, and Jordan Poole had a chance to tie, taking a wide-open three-pointer from way downtown with plenty of time still left on the clock. Unfortunately, he missed badly, and the game was over.
Steve Kerr And Stephen Curry Talk About Jordan Poole’s Missed Three
Even so, both Steve Kerr and Stephen Curry had nothing but support for Poole, claiming that they were fully confident in his ability to knock down that shot, especially after having a hot hand from beyond the arc all night long.
“For sure, he had made six of them tonight,” Curry said postgame. “We talked a little bit about certain adjustments you need to make throughout the course of the game to keep creating good looks. But it was decisive, it was a shot he was open.”
“Considering how they guarded us that possession, trapping me at the half-court, Draymond (Green) swinging it over to him, it’s kind of in rhythm shot,” Curry explained.“I’m sure he felt pretty good about it, that’s why he shot it. There’s no kind of regrets on that. It’s just a make-or-miss type situation, (got) a lot of trust in his ability to put the ball in the basket.”
“I thought Jordan did a really good job,” Kerr added. “I had the timeouts left, but I saw them double-teaming Steph at half-court, so I knew somebody was going to be wide open if we could just get the ball out and Steph did a great job. He got the ball out of the trap, and Jordan was wide open. Pretty good look and that’s a shot he can hit. So, really happy with that possession. Jordan had hit six threes already, so it was a great shot for us.”
It happens. Poole is one of the team’s leading scorers, and he’s made some wild shots in his career before, so we shouldn’t kill him for one brick after so many swishes. He finished the night with 21 points, and he’ll have to be at his best on Thursday night when his team looks to even things up.
