Jordan Poole is struggling right now. Poole scored zero points on four shots in a season-low 10 minutes on Monday night as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors to take a 3-1 series lead. It was the first time Poole had gone scoreless in 33 postseason games and he hadn't played 10-minutes or less since January 2021.
His very bad night started before the game did as NBC Sports Bay Area caught him looking at his phone and posted video, turning him into a meme before he even put on his uniform.
From there it was all downhill. He was rendered unplayable, while Gary Payton II started and played 23 minutes while he was literally vomiting. Poole's body language was just as bad.
After the game his teammates were being asked about his struggles.
And while Curry downplayed it, NBC Sports Bay Area's Kerith Burke reported that everyone in the locker room could feel the tension as Poole turned off his music for a brief postgame scrum.
Then there's the fact that the Warriors have been visibly frustrated with Poole at times this season. Hell, Draymond punched him in the face in the preseason.
Keep in mind that Poole has a four-year $128 million contract extension kicking in this summer. He averaged a career-high 20.4 points and 4.5 rebounds a game this season, but his three-point shooting dropped from .364 to .336 while he only took 0.2 more attempts per game. Then there's the postseason. After shooting 39 percent from three and averaging 17 points a game during the Warriors NBA title run last year, he's down to 10 points on 28 percent 3-point shooting this postseason. If you take out Game 1 of the Lakers series he's made just 9-of-43 3-pointers during the postseason.
Tough scenes for Poole and the Warriors. It's hard to believe his season could end worse than it began.
This article was originally published on thebiglead as The Jordan Poole Situation in Golden State is Very, Very Bad.
