With Stephen Curry sidelined, Yaxel Lendeborg was the designated No. 1 option for the Golden State Warriors against the LA Clippers on Sunday. The highly-touted rookie did not disappoint.
Lendeborg finished with a career-high 37 points (13-of-19 FG), plus six assists, four rebounds and a steal, continuing the historic start to his rookie campaign.
After his blistering performance, the Warriors made the following announcement:
Yaxel has the most points by a Warriors rookie since Stephen Curry scored 42 on 4/14/10
🌉 37 PTS (career-high, game-high) 🌉 6 AST 🌉 6 3PM 🌉 13-19 FGM
4 straight wins for @Yaxel_Lendeborg and the @warriors!
ESPN Insights provided additional context on Lendeborg’s historic outing, noting that the rookie’s 22.3PPG through seven career games trails only Wilt Chamberlain and Rick Barry in Warriors franchise history.
Yaxel Lendeborg scored 37 points to lead Golden State to victory, the most by a Warriors rookie in a game since Stephen Curry had 42 in 2010.
Lendeborg is averaging 22.3 PPG this season, he’s the 3rd player in Warriors history to average 20 PPG over his first 7 career games, behind only Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain (37.4 in 1959-60) and Rick Barry (22.9 in 1965-66).
Lendeborg is averaging 22.3 PPG this season, he’s the 3rd player in Warriors history to average 20 PPG over his first 7 career games,
22.3 PPG 7.3 RPG 3.7 APG 52% FG 41% 3PT
He’s currently having the most efficient 20-PPG season by a rookie in NBA history.
Yaxel Lendeborg Carries Warriors
Lendeborg admitted that the added weight of playing without Stephen Curry and Draymond Green brought out the best in him on Sunday.
“The difference is, I mean honestly, Steph wasn’t in the game today,” he said.
“So, I mean, it’s like whenever he’s not in the game, it’s kind of like my opportunity to try to be a leader or be the main guy on the team and not step on anybody’s toes.
“But it’s like the way Coach [Steve] Kerr has pretty much like, making the offense flow is through me. So, I just got to learn to be aggressive, learn to be selfish a couple times. That’s never been who I am, but sometimes I got to just practice it, see if it’ll work out for me in a couple games or a couple years down the line.”
Warriors Win 4th Straight
The win on Sunday marked Golden State’s fourth straight win after Steve Kerr’s team got off to a disappointing 0-3 start. In the four-game winning streak, Lendeborg has averaged an impressive 25.0 points, 6.5 rebounds 3.3 assists on 57% shooting.
“He’s playing this way and he really doesn’t know the NBA game yet,” head coach Steve Kerr said of his rookie, via ESPN’s Anthony Slater.
“The game is still really fast for him, but he’s so skilled and so talented that he’s making all kinds of plays. He’s going to get a lot better.”
“It’s remarkable the impact he’s making on these games in the first couple weeks of the season,” Kerr added. “It changes everything. On a night like tonight without Steph, we score 124 points and Yax is the main reason we are high powered.”
The Warriors (4-2) will next face the Phoenix Suns (1-3) in the second night of a back-to-back on Monday. Both Stephen Curry and Draymond Green are expected to play.
Warriors Announce Yaxel Lendeborg News After Career-Best Night