The NBA’s regular season ends on April 10th, and the Golden State Warriors are limping to the finish line.

A team that many considered best in the league and favorites to win the championship is now 3-7 in its last 10 games. Having only five games left in the season adds a ton of pressure on the struggling Warriors.

So we're going to talk about the player who the Warriors need to rely on most until the regular season finally comes to a close.

Injuries are an enormous part of the Warriors' problems. Klay Thompson has played 29 games after being out for two consecutive seasons. Draymond Green has appeared in only 41 games so far, suffering a back injury in January that sidelined him for the better part of three months. Then on March 16th, the Dubs lost Stephen Curry for the remainder of the regular season to a foot injury.

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These uncontrollable setbacks are not the only reason the Warriors are struggling. The team no longer has an identity. Golden State was at its best right before Thompson rejoined the team. No, I'm not saying everything is his fault, but when Steve Kerr benched Jordan Poole, things changed some.

That's also when Green went down with his injury. As long as you have Curry on the floor, the Warriors' identity is still relatively the same. The plan is still to get Curry as many touches as possible. At this point in the season, the Warriors were good, but they weren't as good.

Meanwhile, Poole continued to play well.

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The third-year guard is having a career year this season. He's averaging 18.2 points, 3.8 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game. If the Warriors want to finish the season on a high note, he's the answer.

Curry's absence means Poole is the only true shot-creator on the team. Over the last few games, the young guard has proven he can make plays for himself and others. In March, Poole was easily the Warriors' best player.

He led the entire league in made three-pointers last month, averaging 25.4 points and 4.9 assists per game. He recorded those numbers while shooting an impressive 49.5 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from deep on high volume.

Out of their last seven games, the Warriors have walked away with a victory once. The night they won, neither Thompson nor Green played. It could be a coincidence that it played out that way, and Golden State obviously isn't better without those two stars. Regardless, I believe that Poole needs to lead the team in the final few games of the season.

If the Warriors want to fix the ending of their regular season, everyone will need to accept that Poole is their new Curry while the superstar is recovering from injury.

Green’s late turnover against the Phoenix Suns in their 107-103 loss at home shouldn't have occurred. The ball should have been in Poole’s hands. It happened on a night Poole matched his career-high 38 points, pulled down nine rebounds and had seven assists.

It likely didn't happen that way because he's a young inexperienced player, but if the Warriors want to end their 2021-22 season productively, Poole has to be their guy.