Stephen Curry cashes Yaxel Lendeborg’s Warriors check against Luka Doncic

Yaxel Lendeborg failed to answer the challenge early in Friday's meeting with Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers, with plenty of hype surrounding the matchup after what happened in the season opener last week where the Golden State Warriors were blown out.

Lendeborg was very quiet after some incredible recent performances, but Stephen Curry backed up his rookie teammate to deliver the Warriors a 112-95 win -- their third-straight win to even the ledger at 3-3 on the season.

Stephen Curry cashes Yaxel Lendeborg's check against Luka Doncic

Lendeborg had just six points and one rebound in 24 minutes, committing five turnovers and fouling out with just under three minutes left in the game. The 11th overall pick was -20 in the game, much of which came in the first-quarter as the Lakers built a 25-point lead on the back of Doncic's 21 points during the first 12 minutes.

The Warriors were in desperate trouble but enter their 38-year-old franchise superstar. After 44 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday, Curry delivered another 31 points on 8-of-14 shooting from three-point range.

Through Curry and particularly their bench, Golden State exploded back into the game with a 38-15 second-quarter of their own to tie the game at half time. They fell behind by nine again during the third quarter, only to use an 18-0 run to take control of the game and complete a remarkable turnaround win.

The highlight was Curry dropping Doncic on a step-back three in the third quarter, with the two-time MVP offering some payback to what was an embarrassing performance last week in Los Angeles where the Warriors trailed by over 30 entering the fourth.

Warriors bench completely obliterates Lakers

In fairness to Doncic, he showed up offensively with 37 points and five assists while being a +9 in his 37 minutes. It was the bench that was ultimately the major difference, with the Warriors getting 48 points from their reserves as opposed to just seven for the visitors.

That was led by De'Anthony Melton who continues to find form with 16 points, five rebounds and three assists, whiles Georges Niang had 11 points on a perfect 3-of-3 three-point shooting.

Brandin Podziemski was impressive with 21 points, five rebounds and six assists on 4-of-9 three-point shooting, with Golden State shooting 47.8% from beyond the arc after scoring just 15 points in the opening period.

There's now legitimate optimism surrounding the Warriors that didn't appear possible a week ago, and they'll now hope to continue the momentum across a back-to-back against the L.A. Clippers and Phoenix Suns starting on Sunday.

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