Jordan Poole and the Warriors scored 70 points in 19 minutes!

Four and a half minutes into game two, between the Warriors and the Nuggets, Monte Morris banked in an off-balance drive to put Denver up 43-31. Fast forward to the 26 second mark of the third quarter, and the Warriors would lead 101-79. That's right, Golden State scored 70 points in about a quarter and a half, and their explosion was almost entirely fueled by the Splash cousins, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and the family's newest member, Jordan Poole. Jordan started his Poole party with a gorgeous behind-the-back pass to a cutter, then, on the other end, dug down into a driving lane to rip Morris and head the other way for an easy two. With Curry back on the floor, Klay set a screen for to fly off, Steph's gravity pulled on both defenders, and it was Poole delivering the dime to a cutting Thompson. We've seen Draymond make that pass countless times, but even as a shooting threat, Poole can run point up top too, and his passing brings a critical dimension to this new Warriors death lineup. He's yet another on-ball weapon who can hit cutters in the Warriors' movement-heavy system, and he can attack and use all his quickness to punish collapsing defenses. There's a creativity to his passing, he's a step ahead and touch passes this one just a bit wide, and watch his eyes here, faking Gary Harris off the floor on the lob so he can bounce it underneath him for the layup. Perhaps most importantly, Poole's extra passing fits perfectly with all the motion out there, and he can cut as a threat and then find openings off his own movement. Later in the second quarter, we saw a perfect example of this, with Draymond breaking out on a 3 on 3, and he slows down to wait for the cavalry, and Poole wisely cuts off Klay Thompson, which forces Aaron Gordon to jump over and help, so Poole knows his man will be open, and he goes behind the back for this dime. Again, Jordan's execution on these ideas isn't always perfect, this actually hits his own leg, then Gordon's leg, but sometimes it's better to be lucky than never see the pass in the first place. Earlier in the first, we saw an example of Poole getting a bit loose with his passing, that's also great hands from Nikola Jokic, but Poole's extra dimension that makes this a death lineup is his deadly shooting from beyond the arc, and his shifty burst off the bounce. He's lightning quick at 6-4, deadly with jab-step fakes, and Jokic isn't quick enough to help in time on that drive. Poole's quickness is exacerbated when Curry's in the game, because weak side defenders are preoccupied with his screening action, and Jordan can attack Jokic in space, and that's some more fluid shiftiness on a step back. During this huge run, Curry started attacking Jokic in high pick and roll, and this is a brutal spot for Jokic, having to worry about Steph's pull up 3, then not having help behind because Will Barton wants to close out to Klay in the corner. They come back to it on the very next trip, and Morris wants to push Curry to the sideline, but Draymond repositions the screen, Jokic has to recover to the middle, and now Steph can attack him downhill, and that's just individual brilliance against good defense. On the next possession, the Nuggets were cross-matched in transition, with Jokic having to pick up Poole, and Gordon slams on the brakes to take away the 3, so Jokic has to help off the line on Steph's drive, and then it's harder for him to recover and close out, and did I mention Poole can shoot too? Denver simply had to hide too many defenders in this lineup, Jokic is on an island in pick and roll, and Gordon's too slow for Poole in space, and the reason he has that space is because Morris follows Curry to the corner. In case you forgot, the reason Morris was preoccupied with Steph after he passed is because of his legendary relocation 3, and if you were wondering why Gordon was worried about Curry in transition, it's because if you fall asleep and don't find Curry, he'll just walk into high percentage 3s, and that's enough to give Mike Ballone headaches. At the start of the third, Poole attacked Jokic in pick and roll again, and that's a hoop and the harm for 4 more, and with future 6th man of the year Steph Curry waiting on the bench, the Warriors continued to turn defense into offense and push Denver in transition, with Draymond picking up free throws on this rebound by attacking Joker. After a questionable 3 shot foul on this Poole jumper, Barton ground inside for 2, and off of the make, no one matches up with Klay, so Jokic is forced to, Draymond pushes the pace, and with Jokic in hot pursuit, Jeff Green thinks a switch is a good idea, and Draymond shoots some fish in a barrel. The Nuggets then settled down a bit defensively, communicating, switching, and taking away easy passes here, only to watch Green pour salt in the wound by canning an open 3 against the shot clock. Still, their defense had a few more wins, Poole finally missing, and then another trip that completely fizzled out, and ended in a tough isolation jumper from the 5th member of this death lineup, Andrew Wiggins. Well I do, and unfortunately for the Nuggets, his name is Stephen Curry, and this feels almost cruel, but he checked in and started attacking Jokic in high pick and roll, splitting him with a running floater. Have I mentioned this is a terrible matchup for Denver? Because it's the same thing the next time down, spamming Draymond's Steph pick and roll, and this time Barton comes way off the corner to help, so Steph shoots it to Klay, and that's a warmup shot for him. And so, mercilessly, they go right back to the Curry Green ball screen, 40 feet away, the Nuggets defend it pretty well, with again, Barton leaving the corner, but this time Curry can't get the pass through, and that's okay because on the scramble, it gets there anyway, and that's two in a row for Klay, who suddenly had that look about him, so the next trip down, they ran him off a screen, and now Thompson was officially on fire, just in case y'all forgot about Klay. On Denver's next possession, the same themes popped up, Green's deflection means more defense to offense, and Bones Highland is worried about the white-hot Klay in the corner, so Curry walks in for a layup. Golden State's pace with this lineup is simply overwhelming at times, the Nuggets are setting their half-court defense, and Curry flies into the picture off a high screen, and that means a Big is flying at him in space, so Curry just sidesteps, and it's another four-point play. The Warriors' deadly defense keyed so many of these chances, with Poole making a defensive play, deflecting this pass, and then sauntering out in transition into a look-what-I-found three-pointer, and as we discussed earlier in the season, Poole's been a positive contributor on a Warriors defense that looked historically great with Draymond Green. One of the keys to this new-death lineup is Poole's effort and awareness on defense, there's one of those wild passing ideas that doesn't work, but he's very communicative for a 22-year-old guard, pointing a lot and reading actions in advance to make steals like that easy, and you can see it on a play like this, where he switches away from the ball to get off a center, then slides out to the point of attack, works to get around a screen, and prevents any defensive breakdown. He isn't a strong defender, per se, he can be taken off the ball like this, but the Warriors' scheme is about teamwork, communication, and positioning, and he's had good enough moments to make this death lineup whole, yelling for help on this back cut, then just bolting over to save the day himself. The defense doesn't need to be great with their offensive potential, there's his passing we've discussed, but Poole's Curry impersonation, crossing pass with Steph, and then cutting like him off the ball, gives this five-man unit with Green, Wiggins, and Klay such great offensive potential. In addition to Poole's movement shooting, he gives them another on-ball score to compliment Steph, with all kinds of shifty moves with the basketball in the paint, and some ridiculous bursts off the dribble, and with all that space the shooters provide, he can finish in a variety of ways at the basket. So it's fitting that after such a titanic onslaught, that it was Curry who spaced the floor on the weak side, for Poole attacking Denver's center on an island, and he opted for the Ray Allen super step-back three. On the next trip, Curry runs pick-and-roll, and sends it to Poole, who whips it to the roller for some San Francisco showtime, and finally, to top it off, Jordan draws four nugget defenders in the half court, and flips a no-look dime to a cutting teammate, to give the Warriors a stunning 70 points in 18 minutes and 39 seconds of action against a completely overwhelmed nugget defense. In those 19 minutes, Curry scored 21 points, Poole 20, and Klay added 14 in the unofficial coming-out party for the Golden State Warriors' new death lineup. To support this channel, head over to Patreon.com slash Thinking Basketball, where we have additional content, videos, stats, a community, and more. I'd love to know your best nicknames for this new Warrior lineup, and otherwise, I hope you are enjoying the 2022 playoffs, and of course, that you are having a great day.