Steph Curry and Jordan Poole fuel yet another preseason win

It’s hard to get too excited about preseason standings, but wins are always nicer than losses. And after beating the Los Angeles Lakers 121-114 on Saturday night, the Golden State Warriors are now a perfect 3-0 to start the preseason.

That happy stat might not matter much, but this happy stat does: 58. That’s how many points the Warriors starting backcourt, Steph Curry and Jordan Poole, managed in the win.

Curry’s three-ball wasn’t falling (he shot 3-for-14 from deep), but he shot 9-for-10 from inside the arc while netting his jersey number, to go with 5 steals. Poole erupted for 28 points on 10-for-19 shooting, making it three dynamic offensive performances in as many games for the third year player who now looks like a star in the making.

That said, the offense didn’t come out of the gates firing. It was ugly at the onset, but their defense was as good as their offense was bad.

Things picked up near the end of the first frame, and took off in the second quarter, with the Dubs dropping 38 in the frame and taking a 10-point lead into halftime. The ball moved, as it has most of the preseason. It found the arc, as in the previous two games, as Golden State finished with 56 three-point attempts.

After the strong second-quarter showing, the lead only grew, jumping into the 20s in the third quarter before Steve Kerr pulled his starters.

And that’s when the Warriors struggled. With an undersized lineup trying to contain LA’s big bench, the Dubs saw their lead quickly evaporate. Golden State had held LeBron James (9 points on 4-for-12 shooting) and Russell Westbrook (2 points on 1-for-7 shooting with 6 turnovers) in check, but couldn’t deal with Dwight Howard, who finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds on 8-for-11 shooting.

But it was no matter in the end. The bench did just enough, with Juan Toscano-Anderson leading some clutch defensive stands, and rookie Moses Moody splashing in all three of his attempts from beyond the arc.

The Warriors held on for the seven-point win, and we still haven’t seen them lose since last season.