The Golden State Warriors collected their first win of the 2026-27 NBA season on Monday, and it wasn’t a cheap one. Playing on the road, against a team with championship aspirations, the Dubs dismantled the Denver Nuggets, winning 134-114, and looking excellent along the way.
Through three games, the red pen had gotten some serious wear and tear, so I’m pleased to announce that it can get a rest day today. Load management! Grades will be mostly positive, because that’s what is deserved with such an impressive
win.
As always, grades are based on my expectations for each player, with a “B” grade representing the average performance for that individual.
Note: True-shooting percentage (TS) is a scoring efficiency metric that accounts for threes and free throws. League-average TS was 58.1% last year.
Yaxel Lendeborg
31 minutes, 31 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 block, 3 turnovers, 2 fouls, 9-for-19 shooting, 1-for-8 threes, 12-for-13 free throws, 62.7% TS, +25
Let me repeat that line really quickly: 31 points and 12 rebounds on 62.7% true shooting. And now let me remind you of something really quickly: this was his fourth career game.
It is abundantly clear that Lendeborg is a good player; a really good player, even. How good he can become is a different question for a different day, because the reality is, that right now, he’s a really good NBA player.
Lendeborg became just the fifth Warriors rookie since the turn of the century to have 30 points and 10 rebounds in a game (joining Steph Curry, Eric Paschall, Anthony Morrow, and Marc Jackson), and the history doesn’t stop there.
Again: this was his fourth game. It’s not like he’s figuring things out in March. He just got here.
Lendeborg was the team’s go-to option when Curry was on the bench … and often when Curry was on the court, too. He broke down the defense repeatedly, and got to the rim with ease, where he finished with absurd efficiency: he shot 8-for-11 from inside the arc, with 13 free throws. Occasionally he opted not to score after penetrating the defense, and instead dished to an open teammate en route to six dimes.
He has an uncanny combination of aggression and patience. You don’t see many rookies (let alone ones in their first week) who have the ability to score 30 points but still make the right reads and decisions, and play within the system (just ask Draymond Green about Darius Acuff Jr. for further proof of this!).
And my goodness can the dude rebound. Remember when Andrew Wiggins had a great rebounding series in the NBA Finals and claimed it was because he realized that rebounding was as simple as just deciding to get rebounds? Well, Lendeborg decides to get rebounds. He’s snagged 37 boards in four games, and is almost single-handedly making people forget that the Warriors are hilariously short on centers.
He’s the real deal, folks.
Grade: A+
Post-game bonus: Led the team in points and rebounds.
Gui Santos
28 minutes, 13 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 4 fouls, 5-for-6 shooting, 1-for-2 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 94.5% TS, +16
It’s been an up and down start to the season for Santos, but this game was far and away his best. Even if Santos hadn’t done much else, you’re going to always look good scoring 13 points on just seven shooting possessions; that’s elite efficiency, and in a high-octane offensive game like this one, a player scoring like that can make the difference.
But Santos also did a lot more. His defense is a little inconsistent, which isn’t surprising for a player of his age and experience level, but this was definitely a strong game on that end of the court. We’ve seen the potential he has on D, and he really materialized it in this contest. He also had a lot of hustle plays — the three rebounds in the box score don’t do justice to the impact he had on 50-50 balls.
Grade: A-
Draymond Green
27 minutes, 3 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 turnovers, 2 fouls, 1-for-2 shooting, 1-for-2 threes, 75.0% TS, +7
It sure makes it easier to start Green at the five when Lendeborg punches so much above his weight. Yaxel grabbing 12 rebounds, and even successfully taking some turn defending Nikola Jokić, gave Steve Kerr the luxury of playing small, with Green at center.
It certainly worked at times, and Green was the primary reason why Jokić had a relatively quiet night by his superstar standards (19 points on 8-for-18 shooting).
Dray didn’t play well on offense. He was a non-factor scoring (though he wasn’t forcing anything), and had a lot of turnovers, though he had some dimes as well. He’s still rounding into form, but his defense was big in this one.
Grade: B-
Post-game bonus: Led the team in assists.
Brandin Podziemski
33 minutes, 18 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 2 fouls, 7-for-14 shooting, 3-for-7 threes, 1-for-1 free throws, 62.3% TS, +35
We heard all camp that Podziemski was better than ever before. We had to wait to see it, given that he missed Wednesday’s and Saturday’s games with back soreness. But this was a data point. And this was a strong data point.
Setting aside the stats and the impact for a second, Podz looked, to me, more athletic than ever before. He was flying all over the court, which we’ve come to expect of him, but he looked stronger and more explosive. He’s always had great defensive instincts, but now he looks more prepared for the contact on any given play. He’s ripping rebounds out of the air, colliding with players for blocks and coming out on top, and working through contact easily. He just looks like a better athlete than he used to be.
More importantly, he just played a fantastic game. He was creative on offense, both in getting his own shot and in setting up his teammates. The fourth-year guard was a menace on the glass and on defense, in the half court and in transition.
The Warriors are a confusing team. I have no idea how good or how bad they might be. But if Podziemski and Lendeborg play like this, and Curry stays healthy, well … I’m excited to see just how good they can be.
Grade: A
Post-game bonus: Best plus/minus on the team.
Steph Curry
27 minutes, 24 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers, 1 foul, 8-for-8 shooting, 3-for-3 threes, 5-for-5 free throws, 117.7% TS, +7
For just the second time in his storied career, Chef Curry went an entire game without missing a shot. And if you want to know how rare his feat was, there were only three instances all last year where a player scored at least 20 points without missing a field goal or a free threw … and none of the players who did it were guards.
It was also a masterclass in picking your spots. Curry took just one shot in the first half, happy to defer as his younger teammates took over (Lendeborg led both teams with 15 points at the break). And then, when the team needed him, he took over, scoring 17 of his points in the third quarter before taking his regularly-scheduled break.
Just a brilliant display of offensive wizardry from one of the best to ever do it. And hopefully Podz and Lendeborg can keep playing big enough roles that Curry can pace himself like this.
Grade: A+
Gary Payton II
12 minutes, 7 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 foul, 3-for-7 shooting, 1-for-3 threes, 50.0% TS, -5
Payton’s just kind of been hanging around to start the season. He hasn’t been doing too much notable, but he hasn’t been playing poorly, either. His athleticism was firmly on display in this game, and it’s nice seeing him share the court with Lendeborg … suddenly the Dubs don’t look so unathletic! He didn’t have a very efficient scoring game, but good things happened because he cut to the rim repeatedly.
Grade: B
Georges Niang
18 minutes, 9 points, 2 rebounds, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 3-for-7 shooting, 3-for-6 threes, 64.3% TS, -8
Niang’s strong three-point shooting showed up for the first time this year, and it was very timely: he drained back-to-back triples in the first minute of the second quarter, giving Golden State the lead and a whole bunch of momentum that they would not relinquish.
He fits the system well, and makes smart plays on both ends of the court. When he’s making his shots, it all comes together oh so nicely … not unlike with Al Horford.
Grade: B+
Post-game bonus: Worst plus/minus on the team.
De’Anthony Melton
19 minutes, 3 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 fouls, 1-for-6 shooting, 1-for-5 threes, 25.0% TS, +1
Not the best offensive game for Melton (though three assists and no turnovers is always a great ratio), but I loved what he did on defense. This was a game where he made things happen through sheer effort. Even the national broadcasters mentioned how there were multiple plays where Melton disrupted Denver simply by wanting the ball more than any of the Nuggets did.
That’s a critical mentality to be getting from one of your veterans. And it makes the ship run very nicely. There will be days where the Warriors will need more out of his offensive game — which he showed on Saturday he’s capable of — but in this game they needed quarterbacking, leadership, and defense, and he brought all three.
Grade: B-
Al Horford
19 minutes, 11 points, 3 rebounds, 4-for-5 shooting, 3-for-3 threes, 110.0% TS, +14
Like I said when I compared Niang to Horford … when the threes fall, the total package looks damn nice, doesn’t it?
Horford was awesome in this game. His floor-stretching ability was critical, and a huge part of why the Warriors scored 134 points. And his defense on both Jokić and the other Nuggets players was massive. There’s a reason that Kerr trusts Horford so much that Graham Ike and Charles Bassey only got garbage time; and that trust was rewarded.
One funny thing: Niang, Horford, and Melton all finished with playing time totals within 22 seconds of each other. It seems like Kerr has found the sweet spot for his trusted vets!
Grade: A
Brandon Williams
15 minutes, 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 4 turnovers, 2 fouls, 2-for-6 shooting, 2-for-2 threes, 50.0% TS, +14
This was kind of a rookie game for Williams who, it goes without saying, is not a rookie. He showed off his immense potential, but it also looked fairly raw. He really just did such a great job breaking down the defense and making things happen for the offense, especially at the end of the third quarter, when the Dubs were in the midst of turning a close game into a blowout. But at the same time, given Golden State’s history with ball security, you just cannot turn the ball over four times in 15 minutes of action.
One thing to monitor: Williams said that he dedicated much of his offseason to working on his jump shot, after shooting just 28.0% from three-point range in his first four seasons. So far this year he’s 5-for-11 … a very small sample, but an encouraging trend worth keeping an eye on.
Grade: C
LJ Cryer
3 minutes, 6 points, 2 assists, 1 foul, 2-for-3 shooting, 2-for-2 threes, 100.0% TS, -1
Just a little dose of garbage time for Cryer, but my goodness did he make the most of it. Six points and two assists in less than three minutes of action? That’s fun, and had to be a nice tonic for the youngster after struggling on Saturday.
Grade: Incomplete
Malevy Leons
3 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 foul, -1
A few minutes of garbage time for Leons, who hasn’t seen the court much so far this year.
Grade: Incomplete
Graham Ike
3 minutes, 3 points, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 1-for-1 shooting, 1-for-1 threes, 150.0% TS, -1
I thought there was a chance Ike would get some run tonight, after starting on Friday and Saturday and playing fairly well. But instead, he just got some garbage time. He made another triple though, and the center is now a perfect 4-for-4 from deep to open his career!
Grade: Incomplete
Will Richard
3 minutes, 0 points, -1
It seems like Richard is, for now, out of the rotation. But there will be plenty of opportunities when other players aren’t available.
Grade: Incomplete
Charles Bassey
2 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 foul, 0-for-1 shooting, 0.0% TS, -2
I was a little surprised that Bassey wasn’t part of the rotation in this game, but with Lendeborg playing as well as he is, and able to play up a size, there just might not be too many minutes for Bassey on the games that Horford plays.
Grade: Incomplete
Monday’s inactives: Jimmy Butler III, Moses Moody, Kristaps Porziņģis
