When Stephen Curry was ruled out for multiple weeks with an oblique injury this week, many saw the silver lining and excitement of giving Yaxel Lendeborg the number one offensive role at the Golden State Warriors.
But there was also a concern that Lendeborg wouldn't be up to the responsibility so early in his career, and that played out in reality on Friday night against the San Antonio Spurs.
Warriors' biggest Yaxel Lendeborg concern played out against Spurs
Lendeborg had the worst of his impressive 13-game career to this point, scoring just three points on 1-of-13 shooting from the floor as the Warrior offense was kept to just 33.3% shooting in their first full game without Curry.
Lendeborg was blocked at the rim on multiple occassions by Victor Wembanyama and Luke Kornet, while he committed three turnovers to just one assist and finished as a game-worst -40 in the painful 123-85 defeat.
In fairness to Lendeborg, Steve Kerr, the coaching staff and his teammates didn't put him in a great position to succeed early in the game. He was off the ball too much in the opening minutes, and he took just one field-goal attempt in the first seven minutes.
Golden State quickly fell behind 18-0 as a result -- their worst start to a game in the Steve Kerr era. The game was over from that point, and it's tough to expect a rookie in his 13th game to be capable of turning the momentum on the road against the reigning Western Conference champions.
Yaxel Lendeborg and Warriors have chance to bounce-back instantly
Lendeborg mentioned post-game that he was flustered and f****d up mentally, while acknowledging that he wouldn't move past the performance easily as the Warriors fell to their worst loss of the season, and first double-digit defeat since the season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The good news for Lendeborg and Golden State is that they'll have a big chance to respond against the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday. Instead of facing the best defender in the league in Wembanyama, and a Spurs team that ranks third on that end of the floor, they'll get the New Orleans Pelicans who rank second-last in defensive rating this season.
The Warriors hung 138 points on the Pelicans at the start of the week, with Lendeborg walking into 23 points on 10 shots in less than 28 minutes. They'll be hoping for a similar outcome on Monday, and that Lendeborg can prove himself as a number one option while Curry is out.
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