Like most members of the Golden State Warriors, Jordan Poole struggled out of the gate against the Philadelphia 76ers. The 2019 first-round pick tallied eight points on 2-of-9 shooting from the floor in 18 minutes against the Sixers in the first half on Tuesday. Poole couldn’t get into a rhythm from long distance, shooting 0-of-4 from deep in the first half.

Despite a rough start, Poole helped charge the Warriors to a 14 point comeback in the third quarter, scoring nine points with a pair of triples.

Although the Warriors couldn’t complete the comeback with a victory, Poole registered another impressive scoring performance, tallying 19 points on 5-of-16 shooing from the field with four rebounds and two assists in 39 minutes. Poole has now scored 18 or more points in five of his last six games.

On Wednesday, Steve Kerr praised Poole’s effort against the Sixers.

I love Jordan’s game yesterday. I think it’s really important as a young player to be able to survive a really slow start, not have anything go your way, and still find a way to score. We need Jordan to score right now, especially without Steph (Curry). So the fact that he overcame what was a really rough start and scored 19 points and made some really big plays for us, it’s a great sign. I think he’s really maturing.

Poole’s performance against the 76ers was just one of several notable appearances from the second-year guard since returning from the G League bubble. Following his stint with the Santa Cruz Warriors, Poole has looked dramatically different from the start of the 2020-21 campaign. In his last eight games, Poole is averaging 20.6 points on 51.3% shooting from the field and 41% from beyond the arc with 2.5 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game.

After Poole’s recent stretch with the Warriors, Kerr has given the Michigan product the green light to let it fly.

His decision-making and efficiency has been really good and because he’s shooting a high percentage and he’s making good decisions, he’s got the green light to fire away. He’s one of our best shooters. As long as he continues to understand the game and the efficiency part of it, he’s got to let it go — let it fly.

Listen to Kerr’s full presser from Wednesday via Warriors SoundCloud.

With Steph Curry set to miss more time due to his tailbone contusion, the Warriors will need to continue to count on Poole as a catalyst in Kerr’s offense.