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Steve Kerr defends deep, game-tying 3-point attempt from Jordan Poole: ‘It’s a great shot for us’


The Warriors, despite trailing by 14 points in the middle of the fourth quarter, nearly pulled off an outrageous comeback on Tuesday night. They came up just short — literally.

Stephen Curry hit an enormous 3-pointer to the game at 112 apiece with 1:12 remaining.

On his next opportunity, he got absolutely swatted by Anthony Davis on a floater. After a lead-taking bucket from D’Angelo Russell and a 1-of-2 free throw trip for LeBron James, the Warriors had a chance to tie it.

They botched their first chance, with Jordan Poole throwing up a desperation floater. But after James missed a deep dagger attempt, Curry secured the rebound with 17.9 seconds remaining.

He got double-teamed when he crossed half court and, well, you saw what happened. Poole launched a deep, wide-open 3-point attempt. Clank.

A lot of people had a lot to say about the attempt. Among many examples:

And another:

Should Steve Kerr have called a timeout and drawn up a play? Was Jordan Poole wrong to take the shot?

Whatever your opinions are, Steve Kerr expressed full support of the possession, defending Poole’s attempt.

“I had the timeouts left, but I saw them double-teaming Steph at half court, so I knew somebody was gonna be wide open if we could just get the ball out,” Kerr said. “Steph did a great job. He got the ball out of the trap and Jordan was wide open and [it was] a pretty good luck and that’s a shot he can hit. So really happy with that possession. Again, Jordan had hit six 3s already so it’s a great shot for us.”

The miss cemented a 117-112 loss that has the Warriors down 1-0 to the Lakers. They’ll host them again on Thursday night for a chance to tie the series at one game apiece before it shifts back to Los Angeles.

 

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