Warriors’ Jordan Poole the Real ‘MIP’ over Ja Morant, ‘Future’ of NBA in Game 3 Rout

Jordan Poole’s breakout postseason continued in spectacular fashion on Saturday night, as the third-year guard dropped 27 points in the Golden State Warriors’ 142-112 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals.

The entire Warriors team couldn’t miss in their first home game of the series. They shot an astounding 62.7 percent from the field, including 17-of-32 from three-point range.

Poole was the driving force for the offense. He was 11-of-17 from the field with a plus-33 rating in 31 minutes off the bench.

The not-so-secret to Golden State’s success in the series thus far has been Poole. He dropped 31 points on 12-of-20 shooting in the team’s Game 1 win, but struggled with 20 points and went 1-of-6 from behind the arc in Game 2.

Getting Poole back on track in Game 3 proved how important he is to the Warriors.

Poole’s career trajectory is a testament to his growth and development since being selected with the No. 28 overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft. He has given the Warriors another high-level scorer to play with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

Even though it’s been easy to pinpoint the playoffs as Poole elevating his game, his ascent began late in the regular season. The 22-year-old averaged 25.9 points on 38.6 percent three-point shooting and 5.7 assists over the final 15 games of the regular season.

In eight playoff games, including Saturday, Poole is averaging 22.9 points on 46.2 percent three-point shooting and 5.4 assists.

This was the first game of the series in which the Warriors played to their full potential. They may not make 62 percent of their shot attempts again, but Saturday was a reminder to the rest of the NBA that they are still capable of doing it.

Poole and the Warriors will look to take a 3-1 series lead over the Grizzlies in Game 4 on Monday at 10 p.m. ET.