SAN FRANCISCO — Jordan Poole had the ball in his hand and his heel on the logo as the shot clock wound down late in the third quarter Friday night. Chicago Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu basically dared him to take the shot.
Poole let it fly from 33 feet out.
Swish.
The Golden State Warriors fourth-year guard celebrated his seventh 3-pointer of the night putting three fingers up on each hand and waving his tongue.
Poole’s shooting has been streaky this season, but he was due for a night like Friday in the Warriors’ 119-111 win over the Bulls.
Poole scored 14 first-quarter points before finishing with 30 on 11 of 18 shooting in 23 minutes. It was his third 30-point game this season and 14th of his career.
Poole led the league in made 3-pointers in the last two months of the regular season this spring, but hasn’t been able to recreate the same magic on a consistent basis this season. He entered Friday shooting 41.5% from the field while making only 30.5% of his shots from deep. In his last five games, Poole has gone 8-for-40 from 3-point land.
Poole can’t quite put his finger on why that has been the case this season.
“Sometimes they just don’t go in,” Poole said after taking a long pause. “If I had the answer I’d tell you… We play so many games and it’s just reps, over and over and over (and) sometimes they’re just not going to fall.”
Poole has turned to Stephen Curry for advice. The Warriors superstar went through a two-month period last season when he shot well under his standard expectation.
“It happens to the best of us, the great shooters of all time, I’m literally behind Steph and Klay” Thompson, who had a cold shooting streak to start the season but has started to turn it around. “It happens especially as a shooter,” Poole continued, “because if it was easy to shoot 3s, everybody would do it.”
The Warriors led 18 early in the fourth but the Bulls clawed back. Zach LaVine, who finished with 21 points, hit a 3 at the 2:27 mark to pull the visitors within one. But Draymond Green made his second 3-pointer of the night, and the Warriors held on from there.
Thompson finished with 26 points and six assists, and Curry added 19 points and 11 rebounds for his sixth double-double this season. Green contributed 14 points on an efficient 4 of 6 shooting. He also had 10 assists and nine rebounds.
The Warriors have now won nine straight games at Chase Center and improve to 12-11 overall. They’ll have a quick turnaround, hosting the Houston Rockets Saturday evening.
