Skip to content Rookie sensation Yaxel Lendeborg could not make a single layup on Friday night, watching his dream start unravel during a 38-point beating in San Antonio. The Spurs rattled off the first 18 points of the contest, pushing Golden State into an early hole that never got smaller.
Life without Stephen Curry began with a thud because the superstar guard is sidelined for at least two weeks with an oblique tear. Without his gravity bending defenses, the floor shrank instantly for every other player in white and blue.
Also read: Victor Wembanyama Leaves Warriors ‘Scared’ in 38-Point Rout
Golden State now sits at 8-5 and must figure out how to manufacture offense before this two-week absence ruins their strong opening month.
How Yaxel Lendeborg fell back to earth
Through his first 12 NBA games, Yaxel Lendeborg looked like a seasoned veteran. He scored over 20 points per night while shooting with remarkable efficiency, giving Steve Kerr a reliable second scoring option.
Then the Spurs threw their defensive game plan directly at him. Lendeborg finished with just three points on 1-of-13 shooting, struggling to find clean looks against San Antonio’s length.
The rookie did not hide his frustration after the final buzzer. He offered a raw self-assessment instead of leaning on excuses about Curry’s absence.
I don’t remember the last time I got beat [like this] the whole entire game, with no hope at all. It felt helpless out there.
He admitted that he felt flustered all night. Even so, one brutal shooting performance against a surging San Antonio Spurs squad will not define his debut campaign.
Why Steve Kerr went small against Victor Wembanyama
Steve Kerr took a major gamble with his starting lineup against Victor Wembanyama. He inserted De’Anthony Melton and Will Richard into the opening five alongside Draymond Green at center.
That micro-ball approach required Golden State to run the floor and sink perimeter jumpers. But the plan fell apart immediately when shots refused to fall.
Victor Wembanyama altered looks at the rim, which forced Golden State into rushed pull-ups and turnovers. When San Antonio grabbed defensive rebounds, they pushed the ball into open transition lanes before Kerr’s smaller lineup could recover.
Green battled hard inside, but giving up massive height advantages without Curry on the floor created impossible math. The experiment backfired before the first timeout arrived.
The Brandin Podziemski slump that doubled the pain
Lendeborg was not the only young guard who suffered without Curry drawing multiple defenders. Brandin Podziemski entered Friday averaging nearly 17 points while hitting 40% of his three-pointers, yet he could not find any rhythm in Texas.
Podziemski finished with eight points on 2-of-10 shooting. When you combine his stat line with Yaxel Lendeborg, the team’s top two replacement scorers missed 20 of their 23 shots from the field.
Golden State actually posted a +2.6 net rating this season in minutes where Podziemski and Lendeborg played without Curry on the floor. However, carrying that burden for a four-minute bench shift is completely different from running an offense for 36 minutes against an aggressive starting unit.
Kerr needs this young backcourt duo to generate around 40 points each night while Curry recovers. If they struggle to hit double digits, the offense simply grinds to a halt.
What Yaxel Lendeborg and Golden State face next
Can the young roster bounce back before the schedule gets even tougher? The calendar offers one golden opportunity to stop the bleeding, but the margin for error remains razor thin.
The Warriors visit New Orleans on Monday to face a struggling Pelicans squad. Grabbing a road victory would move Golden State to 9-5 and restore some composure before a grueling back-to-back set against the Mavericks and Grizzlies.
After that road swing, the team returns home to battle the Boston Celtics. The two-week checkpoint for Curry’s oblique tear arrives on Nov. 25 against the Sacramento Kings.
If Yaxel Lendeborg and his teammates can manage even a split across those contests, they stay above .500 before softer matchups against the 3-8 Clippers and 1-12 Jazz arrive. Golden State tips off against the Pelicans on Monday night at Smoothie King Center.
Source: CBS Sports
