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Yaxel Lendeborg scores 37, the most by a Warriors rookie since Stephen Curry in 2010, then says he broke his own ‘ethical hoops’ rule chasing 40
Two nights after a six-point, six-foul game against the Lakers, Yaxel Lendeborg scored 37 against the Clippers with Stephen Curry resting, then missed his last three shots chasing 40 and said he won't do it again.
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Two nights after he fouled out in Friday’s win over the Lakers, Yaxel Lendeborg scored 37 points, the most by a Golden State Warriors rookie since Stephen Curry had 42 at Portland on April 14, 2010. Curry watched this one from the bench.
With Curry and Draymond Green resting on the first night of a back-to-back, Lendeborg shot 13-of-19 from the field, 6-of-11 from three and 5-of-6 at the line, with six assists, four rebounds and one steal in 34 minutes of a 124-112 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday at Chase Center. It was Golden State’s fourth straight win after an 0-3 start.
All six of Lendeborg’s threes, posted by the NBA on X.
From six points to 37
On Friday against the Lakers, Lendeborg had six points on three shots, five turnovers and six fouls in 24 minutes, his worst night as a pro.
“That’s not who I am, and last game I was playing like a Debbie Downer, so I just got to go back to playing the way I always play, with a lot of joy, a lot of smiles, dancing and all that other stuff,” Lendeborg said. “I’m going to try to steal some of Steph’s dance moves eventually, but I’ve just got to get back to being me. That was an awful game.”
He had 19 points by halftime, including a 27-foot three with 54.2 seconds left in the second quarter and a 26-footer off a Podziemski pass with 8.5 seconds left that put Golden State up 63-55 at the break.
In the third quarter he scored 10 more: an alley-oop and a driving layup, both from Podziemski, then a step-back jumper and a 26-foot three with 5:20 left that made it 83-68. His sixth three, a 27-foot step-back with 6:36 left in the game, gave him 37 and the Warriors a 111-92 lead.
The step-back three that gave Lendeborg 37, posted by the Warriors on X.
“Ethical hoops”
He did not score again. With the game in hand, Lendeborg said two teammates told him he was three points from 40. He took three more shots and missed all of them, the Clippers cut into the lead, and Steve Kerr called timeout and took him out.
“I’ve never been a stat chaser in my life, so just falling into peer pressure like I did just now was pretty much bad on my part,” Lendeborg said. “I’m a guy that loves ethical hoops. I’m a guy that loves efficient basketball, and I didn’t do that for the last two, three minutes. It’s bad on my part, but I know next time I definitely won’t do that again.”
“If it comes to me, it does,” he added. “If I don’t get it, then I wasn’t meant to get it that day.”
Lendeborg on chasing 40, posted by Warriors on NBCS on X.
“It changes everything”
Lendeborg reached 30 points only once in 112 college games, across two seasons at UAB and last season’s national title run at Michigan. He has done it twice in his first seven NBA games, after 31 at Denver on Oct. 27. The only other Warriors to score 30 twice in their first seven games are Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain and Rick Barry.
“We knew he was a good shooter,” Kerr said. “And when he came in for a workout, you could see the skill in terms of being able to put it on the floor and pull up and shoot. But I didn’t expect what I saw tonight when we worked him out in the summer.”
“It changes everything,” Kerr said. “You see on a night like tonight without Steph and we score 124 points, and Yax is the main reason that we’re high-powered.”
Through seven games, Lendeborg is averaging 22.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists, and is shooting 40.9% from three (18-of-44). He has scored 26, 31, 26 and 37 in four of his last five games. De’Anthony Melton, starting in Curry’s place, added 21 points on 6-of-8 from three on Sunday, and Brandin Podziemski had 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
“He just be going out there and playing,” Melton said. “That’s what we love about him; he don’t even know what he be doing sometimes.”
Curry and Green are expected back on Monday, Nov. 2, when the Warriors host the Phoenix Suns at 7 p.m. PT (5 a.m. Tuesday Cairo time).
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