MY ACCOUNT
Steph Curry is happy to have “healthy competition” from Jordan Poole, who has stepped into his shoes and produced an “incredible” impression of the two-time NBA MVP.
Long-time Golden State Warriors point guard Curry has started the postseason on the bench as he recovers from a foot injury, allowing Poole to make his first playoff starts.
The third-year guard scored 30 points in Game 1 against the Denver Nuggets, then 29 in Game 2, two wins to put the Warriors in control of the first-round series.
Poole is the first Warrior to score more than 25 points in each of his first two career playoff games; Curry, who also debuted against the Nuggets in 2013, had 19 and then 30.
The 22-year-old is merely picking up where he left off in the regular season, though, having averaged 18.5 points per game, up on 12.0 in 2020-21.
That ranked as the fifth-largest year-on-year improvement among those to play 58 games or more this season but was not enough to make Poole a finalist for Most Improved Player.
Shooting 65.5 per cent from the floor and 58.8 per cent from three so far in the postseason, however, Poole can have loftier ambitions moving forward, having drawn comparisons to one of basketball’s greatest ever shooters.
“Jordan’s doing some of the same stuff Steph does,” Draymond Green said. “That’s tough.
“You’re going to game plan for Steph, you’re going to game plan for Klay [Thompson], but now you’ve got to game plan for Jordan. That’s a different beast.
“You’re trapping Steph, okay, but if you’re trapping Steph and you’ve got Jordan on the floor, too, it’s hard to trap two guys.”
Green added: “He’s been watching Steph a lot. He’s doing his best impression, and it is incredible.”
Poole got plenty of shooting practice this year while Curry was limited to 64 games, and he edged his older team-mate in averaging 92.5 per cent from the foul line; Curry finished with 92.3 per cent free-throw shooting in the regular season.
Asked if Poole would now be taking technical free throws, however, Curry replied with a grin: “Never.”
“I like that healthy competition, because I know he edged me out in the season-long race,” he added. “We set high standards for shooting free throws, so it’s going to take a lot more than one free-throw champ to get me off that line for techs.”
But Curry has been amazed by Poole’s progress, explaining: “The maturation of his game in these three years has been unbelievable. Just his confidence in his self to be able to take it up another notch at this stage, it’s extremely impressive.
“You can give direction and the Xs and Os, but the player has to be able to go out there and do it.
“That’s what JP’s doing, night after night. That can’t be taught. That’s something you either have or you don’t. I’m happy he has it.”
