The Golden State Warriors hosted the Los Angeles Lakers tonight for the first game of the 2nd round of the playoffs. After a Kings’ series where Poole couldn’t find his efficiency, the 23-year-old guard showed up against LeBron James and the Lakers tonight. However, his game’s efforts were overshadowed for a lot of people because of his missed game-tying shot. He got a lot of criticism from Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal, whereas his Head Coach Steve Kerr, and teammates Stephen Curry and Draymond Green defended him.
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Hosting the Lakers tonight, the Warriors had a quick turnaround after Game 7 in Sac-Town. They played on Sunday, and now Game 1 was on Tuesday. On the other hand, the Lakers had a break since Friday. The Lakers, led by Anthony Davis, were a problem in the paint tonight. They led a great charge and got to the FT line a lot more than the defending champions.
In the end, they secured a 117-112 win over the defending champions.
Jordan Poole gets was criticized by Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley
The first-round Playoff series against the Kings was a bad matchup for Jordan Poole. He couldn’t find his shots and kept making bad mistakes. However, he turned things around in Game 1 against the Lakers. The 6ft 4″ guard went for 21 points, shooting 6 of 11 from the deep. He also had six assists and no turnovers.
However, his 30-foot attempt to tie the game with 10 seconds on the clock got him a lot of criticism.
Jordan Poole missed the potential game-tying shot from DEEP 😳 pic.twitter.com/FOUWLDw6Gq
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 3, 2023
This was not appreciated by a lot of people. That list included Inside the NBA analysts Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley. After the game ended, they spoke about it on TNT, and shared how they ‘didn’t like that shot’ at all.
“I don’t like that shot at all.”
Chuck, Shaq and Kenny react to Jordan Poole’s missed 3-pointer near end of Lakers-Warriors Game 1 pic.twitter.com/JMwq0FvmWA
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 3, 2023
However, the Warriors do not feel the same way about the shot.
Stephen Curry, Steve Kerr and Draymond Green defend Poole’s shot
Before that shot tonight, Poole was 6 of 10 from the deep. He had hit some crazy transition 3s and even had a 4-point play. When a shooter is feeling good about themselves, it’s possible they can make any shot, no matter how outrageous it is. For Jordan Poole, we’ve seen him make that shot plenty.
Steve Kerr talked about it after the game and said,
“Pretty good look. That’s a shot he can hit. Really happy with that possession. Jordan had six threes already. It was a great shot for us.”
Steve Kerr calls JP’s 3-point attempt with 10 seconds left “a great shot for us.” pic.twitter.com/dcRzTCgITL
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) May 3, 2023
Stephen Curry backed his faith in JP and said,
“A lot of trust in his ability to put the ball in the basket.”
Steph said he was fine with JP’s late missed 3-pointer pic.twitter.com/v6F5hilCDY
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) May 3, 2023
Draymond Green continued on the same and said,
Draymond thinks Jordan Poole will bounce back vs. the Lakers after struggling vs. the Kings:
“I think this’ll be a much better series for him and one that’ll turn his way. Hopefully that’ll turn it our way.”
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) May 3, 2023
Overall, Poole knows his teammates did not have an issue with his shot. They need him to continue to perform like he did tonight if they want to beat the Lakers and advance to the Western Conference Finals.
