On Friday, the Golden State Warriors were bamboozled by the San Antonio Spurs in their 2026 NBA Cup matchup at the Frost Bank Center.
Playing without Steph Curry for the first time since his oblique injury, the Warriors looked bad against the Spurs.
Yaxel Lendeborg was 1-for-13, and Brandin Podziemski shot 2-for-10 as the Warriors lost by 38 points.
They couldn’t stop Stephon Castle, who had 32 points in 25 minutes. Victor Wembanyama was a monster on the defensive end, finishing with 12 points and 12 rebounds in 21 minutes.
Yaxel Lendeborg Admits Being Scared of Wemby
Speaking to reporters in the locker room after their 123-85 loss, Yaxel Lendeborg admitted that the Warriors played scared against Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs.
Lendeborg looked flustered going up against the defending Western Conference champions.
“I just wasn’t being aggressive,” Lendeborg said. “He’s skinnier than me. I just got to go put an elbow on his chest and jump into his body or something. Like, if he blocks it, he blocks it. If not, I can’t be going up there scared, though. That’s pretty much what it was. I feel like all of us are kind of scared in a way. But we’ll get it next time, I guess.”
It was Lendeborg’s second “welcome to the NBA” moment, following his debut game against Luka Doncic.
The Warriors have no time to feel down following an embarrassing loss since they still have three games left on their current road trip.
They visit the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday before finishing the trip on a back-to-back against the Dallas Mavericks and Memphis Grizzlies on November 18 and 19, respectively.
Yaxel Lendeborg’s Pregame Comments About Wemby
Before Friday’s game, Yaxel Lendeborg was feeling pretty confident ahead of his first matchup against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.
Lendeborg told reporters his game plan, which eventually failed.
“He’s going to be in help a lot,” Lendeborg said via ESPN’s Anthony Slater. “And obviously, you see all the stats that he’s put up,” Lendeborg said. “The most recent was like 52 to 24. Like, that’s crazy. … I’m going to try to shoot as many threes as I can tonight. You know, just try to bait him into, you know, helping out. Maybe we get some more kickouts. Oh, and try to rough him up as much as we can.”
Lendeborg shot just two 3-pointers, while Draymond Green did try to rough Wemby up, but he got called for a flagrant foul, penalty one.
Yaxel Lendeborg Admits Playing ‘Scared’ Against Victor Wembanyama