Kerr ‘loved' Poole's final shot, but would make one adjustment

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All things considered, the Warriors are encouraged by Jordan Poole's performance in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night at Chase Center. 

Poole had his best game of the Warriors' 2023 playoff run thus far, scoring 21 points with six assists on 7-of-15 shooting from the field and 6 of 11 from 3-point range in Golden State's 117-112 loss to Los Angeles.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr joined 95.7 The Game's "Willard and Dibs" Wednesday night where he heaped praise onto the 23-year-old for responding positively after a frustrating first-round series against the Sacramento Kings. 

"I loved Jordan's game last night, I loved his approach," Kerr said. "He's pretty mentally tough, Jordan is a guy who is a little bit of a lightning rod. A lot of people are judging him on a daily basis and it's not easy as a young player, a young person to have that type of scrutiny with your every move. The way he responded last night, knocking down shots, competing, boxing out, fighting over screens. I thought Jordan was great."

As encouraging as Poole's performance was for the Warriors, there was one shot from the young guard that dominated the discussion postgame. With 10 seconds remaining in the game and the Warriors trailing by three points, a heavily-guarded Steph Curry passed out of pressure to Draymond Green, who slung the ball over to Poole who pulled up from deep for the potential game-tying shot. Clank. 

Poole's teammates and Kerr all defended the shot after the game, but many online were critical of the decision to shoot based on how far Poole was off the line and the open space he had in front of him to move up and take a shorter shot. 

In speaking with KNBR 680's "Tolbert & Copes" on Wednesday night, Kerr doubled down on his postgame comments supporting Poole's shot, but did admit that if Poole could do it over again, that he should have taken a shorter shot. 

"If Jordan could do it over again, he would do his work a little bit earlier, space out a little bit more as the play was unfolding and take that shot from 25 feet instead of 30," Kerr explained. "And he'll do that next time. I think he's still a very young player and he's so confident. I feel like he can shoot from anywhere which is great, but we do know the percentages increase as you get closer to that line.

"That would be the only adjustment, but I loved Jordan's game, I loved his fight, I loved his confidence rising up to take that. He made six threes in the game, kept us in it, really played well and I was really happy with his play."

RELATED: How Warriors can close free-throw gap in series vs. Lakers

Unfortunately for the Warriors, one shot was not the difference in their frustrating Game 1 loss. Golden State was dominated in the paint by center Anthony Davis and the Lakers' size and free-throw advantage proved to be costly for Golden State. 

However, Kerr and the Warriors can take solace in Poole's impressive performance, even if he was unable to hit the big shot. 

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