Yaxel Lendeborg, a rookie for the Golden State Warriors, scored 31 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and handed out six assists in a 134-114 blowout road win over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. It was his fourth NBA game.
It has been a loud start to Lendeborg’s NBA career, filled with outspoken headlines and gaudy statistics. His 87 points are the most by a Warriors rookie in his first four games since Wilt Chamberlain in 1959.
Lendeborg’s teammate, Stephen Curry, was the last Warriors rookie to record at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a game, doing so in 2010, when Lendeborg was 8 years old.
“Absolutely,” Lendeborg said when asked if he is surprising himself. “Especially this game. I had 13 free throws. That’s crazy. That’s absurd for me.”
Lendeborg Seizes the Opportunity
The Warriors are without the injured and rehabbing Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody to open the season, which left a void and a major opportunity on the wing for Lendeborg.
At 24, he is an older rookie and was considered an advanced prospect. Everyone on the ground level of the Warriors’ operation has admitted he is further along than expected on the offensive end.
“He’s able to impose his will on the game,” Draymond Green said. “I don’t care what age you are — it’s the NBA.”
Golden State had started 0-3 before Monday night and entered as seven-point underdogs against a rested Nuggets team at home. A loss would have risked an early-season spiral.
Curry Steps Back, Then Takes Over
The Warriors controlled the action for much of the night without needing an especially aggressive Curry. The star guard attempted only one first-half shot, a made 3, yet Golden State still led by four at halftime, behind 15 Lendeborg points and six 3-pointers from the veteran bench.
Curry then lit it up in the third quarter, making all seven of his shots. He finished with an efficient 24 points on 8-of-8 shooting, only the second perfect shooting night of his legendary career.
Curry did not have to contribute in the game’s biggest moments, however. The Warriors outscored the Nuggets by seven in his 27 minutes and by 13 in the 21 minutes he rested.
That included a fourth-quarter closeout with Curry and Green on the bench. Lendeborg and fourth-year guard Brandin Podziemski, who scored 18 points with seven rebounds and five assists, put the game away.
Lendeborg missed seven of his eight 3-point attempts but dominated the second half with a series of powerful downhill drives through Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokic or whoever Denver put in front of him. His 31 free throw attempts through four games rank seventh in the NBA.
Nuggets Fall Further Behind
The loss dropped the Nuggets to a disappointing 1-2. Their lone win, an overtime comeback against the New Orleans Pelicans, included boos from the home crowd. Jokic criticized the team’s fans after that game, saying those who booed did not need to come back.
After Monday’s loss, he repeated the point.
“I’m sticking to what I said,” Jokic said. “I think they are not real fans.”
Denver had a chance to mount another late run, like the frantic fourth-quarter comeback a couple of nights earlier. Lendeborg slammed the door, however, with a driving assist for an Al Horford 3, a transition alley-oop finish and another assist on a Gui Santos 3.
Curry and Green never had to return to the floor down the stretch, watching their rookie carry the team across the finish line.
“Yax has that [power drive] ability combined with his passing skills,” Kerr said. “He’s going to be a guy who closes games like he did tonight.”