Michigan Basketball: Jordan Poole goes off for career high with Warriors

Former Michigan basketball player Jordan Poole continued his hot streak with the Warriors, scoring a career-high 38 points Friday night.

The Golden State Warriors wrapped up their playoff berth recently, at least a berth in the play-in bracket. Former Michigan basketball standout Jordan Poole has been a big part of this run, scoring 20 points in consecutive games leading up to Friday.

Poole even hit a buzzer-beater at the end of the third quarter against Utah, a game the Warriors later won on a game-winner by Steph Curry. That was also part of a five-game streak of double-digit scoring games for Poole, which continued Friday night.

With Golden State resting some players on Friday night, in a game that didn’t matter for the NBA playoff race, Poole got the start and was able to showcase himself.

And he wound up scoring a career-high 38 points, even though he had to leave the game in the third quarter due to an ankle injury (he returned).

When it was all said and done, Poole, who has scored at least 20 points in three straight games, was 12-of-22 from the field and connected on four 3-pointers in the win.

The Warriors (38-33) are tied for eighth in the Western Conference, which is an important spot because it only requires one win to advance to the playoffs.

Memphis is also 38-33 and the Warriors rested some players since the two teams will meet to close the regular season. The winner gets the No. 8 seed and a play-in matchup against the Lakers or Blazers who are jockeying for the sixth seed.

Poole has taken the leap

A lot of Michigan basketball fans wanted Poole to return to the Wolverines after his sophomore season but he went to the draft and surprised some as a first-round pick by Golden State.

But two seasons in, the pick looks solid.

Poole had some rough-and-tumble moments as a rookie, including shooting 27 percent from beyond the arc. However, with Golden State healthier, and having better players around him, Poole has found a nice role off the bench.

This season, he’s playing 19.4 minutes a game compared to 22 back in 2019-20, yet Poole’s scoring 11.8 points compared to 8.8 last season. He’s also shooting 34 percent from deep and 54 percent on 2’s, which is a 15-percent improvement.

Poole is hitting nearly two 3-pointers per game for a playoff team while raising his scoring average by three points in fewer minutes on the court.  Of course, increasing your effective field-goal percentage by 13 points will help you do that, but still, it’s been impressive to watch.

It’s wild to think he could have been a senior last season for Michigan basketball. But it will be fun to watch him in the playoffs alongside other former Wolverines such as Duncan Robinson, Caris LeVert, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Trey Burke.

All five of those guys, in addition to being on playoff teams, have each scored at least 26 points in a game this season, which shows just how much the former Wolverines are thriving in the NBA.