Opponents have already feared Splash Brothers Steph Curry and Klay Thompson for years, and the addition of Jordan Poole to that already-lethal combination in the NBA playoffs has only helped the legend grow stronger.
The Warriors’ new three-guard attack has Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone scratching his head to come up with a nickname fearsome enough to describe it, especially after falling into a 0-3 hole against Golden State in the opening playoff round.
He said on Saturday that he even went as far as enlisting the help of his assistant to do some research.
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“What’s a three-headed monster in Greek mythology,” Malone said he asked his assistant (via ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk). “And it’s like ‘Cerberus.’”
Cerberus is terrifying, to put it lightly. The three-headed dog is said in Greek mythology to protect the gates to the underworld for Hades and keep the dead from leaving. It’s only fitting that a mythological guard be chosen to describe, well, three guards.
It’s hard to get anything by a foreboding monster like Cerberus, much like how the Nuggets weren’t able to slip a win past the Warriors across the series’ first three games. Going up against the high-scoring trio of Curry, Thompson and Poole -- part of the Dubs’ new Death Lineup with Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins -- has Denver reeling.
While teams knew what to expect from the Splash Bros, Poole’s breakout regular season performance has carried into his first postseason as a starter, and the brothers seem to be triplets now.
Curry, Thompson and Poole scored 228 points across the first three games of the series and became the third trio in Warriors history to each record 25 points and 50 percent shooting in a playoff game with their Game 3 performances, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Unsurprisingly, the three have also dominated the series’ 3-point conversation.
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The legend continues to grow.
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Cerberus does have a weakness -- he falls asleep when music is played. Malone and the Nuggets are hoping they sing the right tune against their very own three-headed monster during Game 4 on Sunday to avoid a Golden State sweep.