Beijing time on April 17, the NBA playoffs officially began, the first day of the game, the Warriors home 123-107 victory over the Nuggets, the first quarter and a half of the two teams are still difficult to score, the end of the second quarter to the end of the third quarter, the Warriors played a wave of 50-27, after the point difference opened, the Nuggets did not catch up, the Warriors made a start.
This is the first time the Warriors have returned to the playoff stage since the 2019 Finals, and the Big Three have all performed quite well:
Curry played 22 minutes, shooting 5-of-13 from the field, with 16 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists
Klay played 29 minutes, shooting 7-of-15 from the field, with 19 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists
Green played 29 minutes, shooting 5-of-7 from the field, with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists
It should be said that curry returned after a month in this game, and it was a substitute, which is also curry's third career playoff substitute.
So, the Big Three did what the Big Three should do, but in this game, the best performance was not any of the Big Three, but Jordan Pooler.
In this game, Poole started, he scored 14 points in the second quarter, 6 of 6 in the half, scored 17 points, and after the game, Poole played a total of 30 minutes, shooting 9 of 13, 5 of 7 from three points, 7 of 8 from the free throw line, and had 30 points, 1 rebound and 3 assists, and this was only the first playoff game of Poole's career.
What is the concept?
Poole's 30 points were the second-highest in the Warriors' playoff debut history, and the first was Chamberlain's 35 points
--Poole scored five three-pointers in a single game, setting a new Record for a Warriors player's playoff debut
Poole is the second player in history to make a playoff debut with 30+5 three-pointers, the first being Irving in 2015
Because he scored 17 points in a hundred shots in the half, Poole's name even rushed to the top of the national hot search, which is enough to see how good his performance is
Throughout the season, Poole played a total of 76 games for the Warriors, averaging 18.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, shooting 44.8%/36.4%/92.5% of the three shots, and shooting 59.8% from the real shooting rate.
It should be said that Poole's pre-playoff performance was very crazy, in the last 20 regular season games of the season, Poole averaged 25.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game, scoring 17th in the league, shooting 47.5%/42.6%/92.4% of the three-field shooting rate and shooting a true shooting rate of 63.9%.
During this period, Poole scored 20+ in 17 consecutive games, and he also became the third player in Warriors history to score 20+ in 17 consecutive games since 1995, the other two being Curry (2 times) and Durant.
I have to say, Poole is really inspirational.
As a rookie of the class of 2019, Poole's market in the draft was only the middle of the second round, but the Warriors took him off with the first round of 28 picks, and in the first year of his career, Curry and Thompson were absent, and Poole's performance was outrageous, dubbed "human pendulum essence", and even until the second-year season, Poole also played in the development league.
But this year, Poole ushered in a career explosion, he has become the Warriors' "third splash brother", the playoff debut can hand over 30 points, and even let Curry play him as a substitute - Curry has also played as a substitute before returning from injury, the so-called general's wind, Curry is really a star without a shelf.
Back at Poole, after playing a fantastic season, his contract extension has long been on the agenda.
The news a few months ago was that Poole might get a 4-year, $80 million contract, but a week ago, NBA reporter Keith Smith reported that Poole's value has increased to 4-year, $90 million, and if he also plays well in the playoffs, he can even get $100 million for 4 years.
Of course, Poole's performance has a Warrior system bonus, but in such a big contract-filled league, 25 million a year is really not much for a player of Poole's level, and I hope he can continue the feel of this game, big contract, on the road.