Yaxel Lendeborg bounces back to fuel Steph Curry-less Warriors' win vs. Clippers

Yaxel Lendeborg bounces back to fuel Steph Curry-less Warriors' win vs. Clippers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – If Yaxel Lendeborg continues to sing at this level, hit after hit after hit, his rookie season with the Warriors will fill a triple album.

Two nights after his self-described “wet the bed” performance, Lendeborg on Sunday dropped the kind of gem that has the Warriors raising their already lofty dreams.

Lendeborg’s season-high 37 points in a 124-112 win over the rebuilding Los Angeles Clippers was impressive enough, but his production delivered a showcase of various facets of his game. When he digs into his bag, you can’t predict what he’ll bring out.

“We knew he was a good shooter,” coach Steve Kerr said. “And when he came in for a workout, you could see the skill in terms of being able to put it on the floor and pull up and shoot. But I didn’t expect what I saw tonight when we when we worked him out in the summer.”

He entered the game shooting a respectable 36.4 percent beyond the arc and walked out shooting 40.9 percent from deep after draining 6 of 11. The variety of his triples – step-back, pull-up, catch and shoot in halfcourt and in transition – were like warning shots to the rest of the NBA.

Yaxel told Steph he can have the night off 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/kFzHFDVxjP

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 2, 2026

It's the Yaxel Lendeborg show tonight 🔥 pic.twitter.com/u4Umw0zZ7X

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 2, 2026

Lendeborg’s 37 points came on 13-of-19 overall shooting – he missed his last three shots in a vain effort to score 40 – adding six assists and four rebounds.

“I’ve never been a stat chaser in my life, so just falling into peer pressure like I did just now was pretty much bad on my part,” Lendeborg said. “I’m a guy that loves ethical hoops. I’m a guy that loves efficient basketball, and I didn’t do that for the last two, three minutes. It’s bad on my part, but I know next time I definitely won’t do that again.”

Yaxel Lendeborg considers himself an "ethical hooper" 😂 pic.twitter.com/ZNiMtJCxjx

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 2, 2026

With Stephen Curry resting on the first night of a back-to-back set, Lendeborg seized the scoring load and carried it like a lower-case warrior.

“It changes everything,” Kerr said. “You see on a night like tonight without Steph and we score 124 points, and Yax is the main reason that we’re high-powered. You can play off him. I thought everybody did a really good job of spreading the floor and executing for the most part, and a lot of guys took advantage of the space out there.”

De’Anthony Melton, starting in place of Curry, finished with 21 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, including 6 of 8 from beyond the arc. Brandin Podziemski put in 17 points, and Brandon Williams matched that total coming off the bench.

Melton puts the game to bed 😴 pic.twitter.com/ur3Lz7Mqky

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 2, 2026

But everything revolved around the 6-foot-9, 240-pound rookie from the University of Michigan. This was what he wanted. What he needed to satisfy his soul after posting such a poor representation of his game Friday night: Season-low six points, season-high six fouls and five turnovers in a 112-95 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

He’ll sleep better after this one.

“One hundred percent,” Lendeborg said. “I wanted to switch that up. That’s not who I am, and last game I was playing like a Debbie Downer, so I just got to go back to playing the way I always play, with a lot of joy, a lot of smiles, dancing and all that other stuff.

“I’m going to try to steal some of the Steph’s dance moves eventually, but I’ve just got to get back to being me. That was an awful game.”

Lendeborg has had a 37-point game, a 13-rebound game and is displeased that his season-high assists total is six. It’s conceivable, even likely, he will post a game with 10 dimes.

What may be the most surprising development seven games into Lendeborg’s NBA career is his relative comfort, particularly on offense. Things seem to come naturally for someone who didn’t get serious about basketball until he was approaching adulthood. The 24-year-old is raising eyebrows on the court without realizing it.

“He just be going out there and playing,” Melton said. “That’s what we love about him; he don’t even know what he be doing sometimes.”

What Lendeborg is doing is laying down enough potent tracks to give the Warriors a strong present and allowing them to visualize a tantalizingly wonderful future.

He’s not the only one dancing.

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