Kerr ready to unleash Warriors' ‘pick your poison' trio

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Warriors' closing lineup consisted of two 19-year-old rookies to end their five-game losing streak Tuesday night in a 112-97 win over the LA Clippers, a victory that was even easier than the final score indicates. 

It also included a trio that Warriors fans can get used to watching play together, giving Golden State instant offense. Or, the Splash Triplets if you will. 

"I do like the Jordan [Poole], Steph [Curry], Klay [Thompson] combination," Steve Kerr said after the game. "There's a lot of proof that those three guys play well together."

Kerr has seen all the proof he needs. Truth is, the three haven't exactly spent hours together sharing the court, but their offensive potential is unquestioned. 

Curry and Thompson have created the greatest shooting backcourt in NBA history. Former Warriors coach Mark Jackson proclaimed it long before that statement was seen as universally true, and the two have proved him to be right. At this point, there's really no more debating. 

Poole brings a new element. He's not Kevin Durant -- nobody is. But he's the best pure scorer Curry has played with since Durant left the Warriors and one of the best he and Thompson have shared the floor with, especially at only 22 years old.

During the Warriors' run of five straight trips to the NBA Finals, they didn't have a need or really a use for younger players, let alone one with Poole's offensive mentality. Golden State was much more interested in bringing in veterans, solely focused on one year at a time.

When the Warriors drafted Poole, Thompson had just torn his Achilles in Game 6 of the 2019 Finals and Durant was departing for Brooklyn in free agency. The Michigan product was mostly an afterthought his first two seasons in the league for the injury-riddled Warriors, while showing flashes of his offensive potential. In Year 3, a fluctuating season of ups and downs, Poole is the Warriors' third-most feared scorer. 

And that includes All-Star Andrew Wiggins. 

"You got Klay running the wing, me or Jordan bringing it up and it's kind of a pick your poison type of vibe," Curry said. "Tonight was a good night for our stretch of minutes."

Though he's averaging a career-high 16.6 points per game, this hasn't been an easy season for Poole. There have been bumps and bruises along the way, notably trying to adjust to Thompson's return. Since Klay has been back in the fold, Poole has been the Warriors' Sixth Man, trying to adjust on the fly and figure out when he can be a free offensive scorer and when he needs to dial it back. 

Thompson made his long-awaited return on Jan. 9, and Poole has been held to single digits five times since then. He also has shown recently what a difference maker he can be for this offense when given more free rein and the ability to cook. Tuesday night was his fourth straight game scoring at least 20 points, averaging 24.5 points and shooting 59.4 percent from 3-point range. He says his aggressiveness has remained the same, though the numbers suggest otherwise. 

Poole also made it clear how natural it feels playing alongside Steph and Klay, with the three of them finding open looks and himself being more of a facilitator when needed.

"It feels really fluent being able to get Steph off the ball and get him some easy looks," Poole said. "At the same time, you have to watch out for Klay, because he is also extremely aggressive. It gives me the green light too, to just continue to play my game. 

"It's three things you have to worry about out there on top of our offense. I just continue to learn and try to put these guys in really easy situations throughout the game." 

Clippers coach Ty Lue, who has been fantastic for his undermanned squad this season, saw firsthand what an added element Poole's explosiveness brings to the Warriors' offense. 

"The way they play offense, their pace, the way they cut, speed cutting, share the basketball -- they put you in some compromising positions and they took advantage of that early on in that second quarter. We couldn't really keep up with their pace to start and then that opened up the game for them to go 33 to 15 in that second quarter."

It's no coincidence that Poole put up 13 points in that second quarter, just two fewer than the Clippers as a team. 

Poole's 20 points were right behind Jonathan Kuminga's game-high 21, with a late 3-pointer giving the rookie the edge. Curry provided 15 points to go with five assists and five rebounds on a night where a scoring flurry wasn't called for. Thompson started off ice cold, but caught enough fire to score 20 points while going 9-for-23 from the field. He wasn't happy with his shooting numbers, though a different stat stood out to him on the final box score. 

"I played 34 minutes tonight. That’s gotta be a season-high. That’s so cool," Thompson said. 

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Indeed, it is a season-high. Thompson's minutes restriction is nearly over, giving Kerr and his staff both more chances to experiment and also to hammer down their playoff rotations. Things will be different once the Warriors are at full strength, and Draymond Green will of course be part of that closing lineup. Andre Iguodala could be as well. 

But Thompson actually has played more small forward (53 percent) than shooting guard (43 percent), according to Basketball-Reference's position estimation system. What if these three could play together with a healthy Draymond? Who's the fifth player? Are we sure it's Wiggins?

Now we're having fun.

This new trio is one to watch down the stretch. Tuesday night's win was the most complete the Warriors have looked in weeks, and the fireworks between these three were barely fired off. Just imagine when the chemistry completely comes together. 

Pick your poison.

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