After winning three straight games, to have a chance at winning their fourth in a row, the Golden State Warriors would have to do it without Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. A tall task, but a Golden State rookie appeared to be up for the challenge.
Without the Warriors' pair of veteran leaders, Yaxel Lendeborg took control of Steve Kerr's offense. The 2026 first round pick notched a new career-high with 37 points on an efficient 13-of-19 shooting from the field to go along with six assists, four rebounds and a steal in 34 minutes while leading Golden State to a 124-112 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Lendeborg showed off his long-distance shooting, matching a career-best with six 3-pointers against the Clippers. Lendeborg has hit a triple
in each game of his rookie campaign and is now shooting 36.4% shooting from deep through seven games.
According to ESPN Insights, Lendeborg's 37 points were the most scored by a rookie since Curry dropped 42 points in 2010 as a rookie.
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.
— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) November 2, 2026
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,… pic.twitter.com/T3RgsjFPB9
De'Anthony Melton stayed hot, scoring 21 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field with six rebounds, three assists and two blocks in 28 minutes. With Curry sidelined, Golden State's guard trio of Melton, Brandin Podziemski and Brandon Williams all tallied 17 or more points on Sunday night against the Clippers.
The Warriors will have the chance to add another game to their win streak with the second leg of a back-to-back slated for Monday against the Phoenix Suns at Chase Center. The Suns were the last team to hand the Warriors a loss, on Oct. 24, 131-122.
This post originally appeared on Warriors Wire! Follow us on Facebookand Twitter!
This article originally appeared on Warriors Wire: Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg powers Warriors to 124-112 win over the Clippers
