DETROIT — Jordan Poole received his challenge, and it was a lofty one.
“I need 50!” yelled an acquaintance of the third-year guard out of Michigan from the courtside seats near the Warriors bench. “I got you,” replied Poole, who appeared he might just reach that mark before settling for a season-high 32 to lead the undermanned Warriors to a 105-102 win over the Pistons.
Down a quartet of key players, the Warriors relied on Poole and Andrew Wiggins (27 points) to carry the offensive load and return home from a four-game road trip with three wins and a 14-2 record, still on top of the NBA.
“I’m really proud of Jordan. He’s struggled the last few games, and he knew we needed his offense tonight. And he was locked in right from the beginning,” coach Steve Kerr said afterward.
Poole’s parents, Monet and Anthony, were in attendance, along with childhood and college friends, and his coach at the University of Michigan, John Beilein, was on the opposing bench as a player development coach with Detroit.
“It kind of feels like my hometown, coming back to Michigan,” Poole said. “It’s cool. It kind of felt like a home game, essentially. A lot of people I knew in the crowd. My parents were here, friends from school. We had some fans on our side tonight.”
It was evident the fans inside Little Caesars Arena were disappointed not be treated to another spectacle from Steph Curry, who missed his first game of the season while nursing a sore left hip; the arena erupted in cheers when the Warriors’ bruised-up superstar emerged from the tunnel a few minutes into the game.
It was equally clear that the Warriors were going to need to rely on Poole and Wiggins to carry the offensive load, with Curry, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and Otto Porter Jr. all out with various bumps and bruises.
With Poole and Wiggins teaming up, there was no contest. The Warriors raced out to a 17-4 lead with the duo combining for 14 of those points, but Poole subbed out around the 5 minute mark, and Golden State’s lead evaporated.
The Warriors didn’t regain control until Poole subbed back in, alongside Wiggins, for the final stretch of the first half, when they Warriors mounted a 16-6 run. With the two of them on the court, Golden State outscored Detroit 59-38, but when either left the floor, the Pistons had a 64-46 advantage.
Wiggins’ newfound aggressiveness continued into its sixth game.
After his breakout game against Minnesota, Wiggins hasn’t attempted fewer than 11 shots in any of the past seven contests and only scored fewer than 15 in one game. He turned in his fourth 20-point performance of the season Friday with 26 on 9-of-16 shooting; all but one have come in the past seven games.
“With those guys out, everyone has to be a little more aggressive,” Wiggins said. “That’s a big part of our offense. They’re a big part of what we do. … You can’t replace those guys, but you can do as much as you can to help the team win.”
As for the 22-year-old guard from Milwaukee via the University of Michigan, nobody has embodied the peaks and valleys of a talented young player more than Poole.
After a three-game stretch where he led the Warriors in scoring each contest, Poole hadn’t topped 20 for the past six games. On Friday, he reached that mark by halftime, the fourth time in his career he’s dropped 20 in a half.
“(I’m) really just happy with his overall development and improvement,” Kerr said. “He’s going to have some down spells. It’s not going to be linear, his improvement. But you look at him now compared to where he was when he first got to the league, it’s night and day.”
Poole’s efficiency from the field dipped to 35%, and he bricked — or, sometimes, airmailed entirely — 80% of his attempts from beyond the arc during the six-game stretch, despite his reputation as a natural shooter.
One part of Poole’s game that has never wavered is his confidence.
Kerr has maintained that this is is just how it goes: the highs come with the lows.
And, in front of a hometown-adjacent crowd, Poole reached among the highest peaks of his young career.
Source: www.mercurynews.com