Jordan Poole’s inconsistent start to season continues in tough loss to Suns

JP’s inconsistency on display in Dubs’ big loss to Suns originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea

Jordan Poole’s inconsistent start to the 2022-23 NBA season continues.

In the Warriors’ 130-119 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday at Footprint, Poole scored two points on two made free throws and missed all his attempts from the field (0-of-5).

His two points against the Suns are tied for his fewest this season — he also scored two points against the Sacramento Kings on Nov. 7 in the Warriors’ 116-113 win.

This outing comes just two days after scoring a season-high 36 points in Golden State’s blowout win over the San Antonio Spurs, which Warriors fans had hoped would be the game that would turn the 23-year-old’s luck around.

Instead, it’s more of the same for Poole and the Warriors as Wednesday marked the sixth time in 15 games that Poole has shot under 40 percent from the field.

On Wednesday, Steph Curry dropped a season-high 50 points — the first Western Conference player to achieve that milestone this season — and passed Mitch Richmond on the all-time scoring list.

But that wasn’t enough as the rest of the Warriors starters had 52 points combined.

The defense continued to be an issue as Golden State allowed Phoenix to shoot 51.2 percent from the field (44-of-86) and 52.5 percent from beyond the arc (21-of-40).

That said, is starting Poole the answer to the Warriors’ woes? Who knows.

But what is known is that Klay Thompson is struggling out of the gate, averaging career lows in shooting percentages across the board, and Poole looks comfortable playing with the starting group, averaging almost 30 points a game in his three starts.

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With Poole slated to be the Warriors’ point guard of the future and the bench anchor in the present, the young guard needs to find his rhythm and not be passive if Golden State wants to salvage its season.

Story continues

Warriors fans are hopeful that Poole and Thompson can put their shooting woes behind them sooner rather than later, or else the teams’ championship defense will be short-lived.

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