Jordan Poole

Inside look at Jordan Poole's emergence in the NBA playoffs. Plus, how the Timberwolves and Grizzlies are playing by their own rules.

But even if he doesn’t return, Dallas may have found Utah’s kryptonite, and that may be enough to make this a series with or without the superstar point guard. (To be fair, we’ve also seen it toward the end of a few Utah collapses this season, when Gobert and the Jazz didn’t contest the perimeter after a switch. Utah has been a sieve on the perimeter all year, but Monday was especially shameful, considering how big it would have been to take a 2–0 lead on a team that could get its perennial MVP candidate back in the lineup in the coming days. It looked exactly the same as last year’s Western Conference semifinal series against the Clippers, in which Los Angeles repeatedly goaded Gobert out of position to be able to make a quick pass to a wide-open shooter along the arc. The man is going to make a lot of money this summer. When it comes to breaking the conventional rules, Minnesota did that most in Game 1, beating the grit and grind originators at their own game and on their home floor. But whether Adams is in the rotation plenty or not, rest assured: There should be plenty of shotmaking, loose-ball scrambles and mean mugging to go around either way. But even though Memphis got outworked on the boards, don’t be surprised if we see Steven Adams for a shorter amount of time than his 24 minutes in the last contest. As The Athletic’s Fred Katz laid out, Minnesota—one of the NBA’s worst defensive rebounding clubs—won the rebounding battle and managed to limit its live-ball turnovers to just three in Game 1 despite Memphis being the best squad at forcing those sorts of miscues. Poole, a fantastic passer and shooter, is still on a rookie deal rather than a max one (though he’s eligible for an extension this summer). He also has one of Curry’s best tendencies in the sense that he moves extremely well without the ball, leaving defenses uneasy and confused about where he’ll be on the court at any given moment. It’s a shame that Game 2 of perhaps the most fascinating first-round matchup will be showcased on NBA TV, where fewer folks will see it. It was perhaps the clearest sign that he was back to being Steph again.