The Golden State Warriors earned their best road win of the season on Friday night, holding on to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 120-114.
The defending champions' stunning victory was their first over a winning team away from Chase Center, and clinched their first successful road trip of 2022-23. Despite the loss, the Cavaliers' 19-5 mark at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse still ranks as the best home record in the Eastern Conference.
Needless to say, Golden State's win was extremely impressive. Making it all the more encouraging? The Warriors beat the Cavs without a resting Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins, relying on a nine-man rotation that featured a pair of two-way players, two players making their long-awaited return from injury and a seldom-used rookie who was just recalled from the G League.
Ty Jerome, Anthony Lamb, Jonathan Kuminga, JaMychal Green and Patrick Baldwin all played meaningful roles in Golden State's win. Kevon Looney owned the offensive glass and Donte DiVincenzo stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals. The only player who got minutes and didn't make a palpable mark on the game was Moses Moody.
It was a true team effort for the thoroughly depleted Dubs, basically.
But Jordan Poole was still by far his team's most dynamic player on Friday, opening the action with three straight triples en route to a game-high 32 points on 10-of-23 shooting despite being Cleveland's clear defensive focal point. Poole, remember, played 43 minutes against the Boston Celtics on Thursday, too, making his stellar performance versus Cleveland with Golden State's stars sidelined even more notable.
“I love Jordan, love the way he's playing. He was incredible tonight,” Steve Kerr said after the game. “I just think to play that way tonight without Steph and Klay and Wiggs and Draymond, with [Isaac] Okoro all over him, to give us that scoring, that force, he made so many plays out there. He just set the tone right away. I think he hit the first nine points of the game with three threes. He was great. He's just getting better and better, and as I said, there's still so far to go, which is exciting. He's just gotta take the next step and continue to do what he did the last two games.”
Poole has quietly shaken off a rough start to the season to help the Warriors right the ship at its midway point in spite of multiple major absences and a constantly changing rotation. Don't be surprised if he plays even better from here, steeled by the confidence of being a full-time starter when the Warriors are back at full-strength.
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