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Disinformation report hotline: 010-85061466
Jordan Poole (#13) of the Washington Wizards penetrates in the game against the Golden State Warriors at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California, December 22, 2023. /CFP
The Golden State Warriors beat the Washington Wizards 129-118 at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California, on Friday, extending their winning streak to four games.
Jordan Poole, who played the first four seasons of his career as a Warrior, came back to the Chase Center for the first time since he was traded to the Wizards in July for Chris Paul. There wasn't much beef between him and the home team, especially when Draymond Green, who punched him in the face in October 2022, was absent due to suspension. Both Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson hugged him before the game. Some home fans cheered for him as well.
Back when Poole was in the Warriors, he was once seen as the best of the young generation that also included Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody. He was sent away mostly because of the differences he and the team had over his role on the rotations. On Friday night, Poole proved with his poor performance to the Warriors how correct the decision was to trade him.
Stephen Curry (#30) of the Golden State Warriors shoots in the game against the Washington Wizards at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California, December 22, 2023. /CFP
Poole shot 7-for-21 from the field to get team-high 25 points. He took a total of 12 shots behind the arc and missed eight of them. Considering that he and Kyle Kuzma are the top-two players of the Wizards, the number of his total field goal (FG) attempts isn't a problem, especially when Kuzma was in an apparently poor form.
However, what truly frustrated the rest of the Wizards was Poole's shooting choice. He fired and missed multiple unnecessarily either tough or quick triples. On many occasions, he launched attack without waiting for his teammates to enter their positions. Most of these attempts ended as bricks and some of them resulted in easy buckets for the Warriors in transition.
What made Poole look even worse was the incredible performances by Curry and the young Warriors like Kuminga and Trayce Jackson-Davis (TJD). Like Poole, Curry didn't shoot well in the first quarter, but he delivered five assists in this period, more than Poole's total number in this category for the whole game (three). Then Curry went knocked down seven triples in the second and the third quarters to score 27 points. He didn’t even come back in the final period because the game was completely decided at that time.
Trayce Jackson-Davis (#32) of the Golden State Warriors dunks in the game against the Washington Wizards at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California, December 22, 2023. /CFP
The Wizards have been one of the NBA's worst in rim and rebounds protection this season and that exactly suited Kuminga's and TJD's book. Kuminga kept charging the rim with his size, power and athleticism advantages, making nine of his 11 attempts to get 22 points. TJD contributed a double-double in the second straight game with 10 points and 13 rebounds, including five on the offensive glass, which set a court high.
The Warriors set their winning percentage back at .500 (14-14) thanks to their latest winning streak and are currently close to reaching the play-in tournament zone (No. 7 to No. 10) in the Western Conference.
Joel Embiid (#21) of the Philadelphia 76ers shoots in the game against the Toronto Raptors at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, December 22, 2023. /CFP
Other games on Friday (away teams come first):
Toronto Raptors 111-121 Philadelphia 76ers
Joel Embiid continued his recent dominant performance as he went 13-for-22 in FGs to drop 31 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He even drained four shots from downtown. Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris both scored 30+points as well. Maxey also delivered 10 assists with only three turnovers.
Pascal Siakam had 14 points in the first quarter for the Raptors to lead 37-28, but he failed to carry on such performance to the end of the game. Neither did any of his teammates stand out to share his burden.
Domantas Sabonis (C) of the Sacramento Kings dunks in the game against the Phoenix Suns at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California, December 22, 2023. /CFP
Phoenix Suns 105-120 Sacramento Kings
The Kings secured their fourth win of the past five games as all five of their starters reached double-digit points at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California, on Friday. Domantas Sabonis got a triple-double of 28 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists. De'Aaron Fox contributed 23 points, six rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two blocks.
The Suns suffered their eighth loss of the last 11 games in spite of the 52 points scored by Kevin Durant and Devin Booker in combination. They had three teammates with double-digit points as well, but none of them got more than 11. The team shares the same record with the Warriors at the moment and can easily fall out of the in-season tournament zone of the West.
Denver Nuggets 122-117 Brooklyn Nets
Atlanta Hawks 113-122 Miami Heat
Dallas Mavericks 96-122 Houston Rockets