Warriors’ first win offers glimpse of how they can survive until Jimmy Butler returns

So many "Curry flurries" have been wasted in the last few years. Steph Curry would regularly put on a show just for his team to negate it when he went to the bench. Without their superstar, the offense has too often fallen flat. Last season, the Warriors' offensive rating fell from 117.6 with Curry on the court – the highest mark on the team – to 110.5 when he wasn't in the game – the lowest mark on the team.

In Denver on Monday night, the Warriors trailed by two points when Curry exited at the 6:50 mark in the second quarter. He returned inside the final two minutes of the half with his team up by three. While the superstar was resting, the young guns took care of business.

Later in the third, Curry checked out with 3:42 left after exploding for 17 points in the period and propelling his team to an 11-point advantage. When he checked back in to open the fourth, the Warriors' lead had grown to 16 points. With Curry on the bench, Yaxel Lendeborg and Brandin Podziemski orchestrated a 13-8 run.

Again in the fourth quarter, Curry, up to 24 points, sat down with a 19-point lead and 8:04 left on the game clock. Lendeborg and Podziemski took over the offense again. The Warriors ended up winning by 20, defeating the Nuggets 134-114 for their first win of the season, thei first regular-season win in Denver since 2022. In the 21 minutes Curry was off the floor, Golden State outscored the Nuggets by 13 points. The two-man lineup of Podziemski and Lendeborg posted a +47.1 net rating in their 24 minutes together.

"When you have both of them on the floor, there's just a lot that can happen in order to attack the defense," Steve Kerr said of the young tandem. "I thought both guys were terrific tonight and together they really form a nice combo."

Two different skill sets, one productive partnership

Most of the praise will go to Lendeborg, and understandably so. What the rookie is doing is special. In his fourth career game, he logged his second double-double of the season with 31 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists and finished as a +27 in his 31 minutes. Lendeborg became just the third Warriors rookie all time to record that stat line, joining Rick Barry and Wilt Chamberlain. But Podziemski deserves some of it too. His numbers weren't as gaudy, and his highlights were less spectacular, but his impact was real.

On both ends of the floor, Podziemski made his presence felt. Knocking down open threes, cutting to the basket, and being active on the glass on offense. Contesting at the rim, guarding Jamal Murray, and flying around on defense.

Fresh off his new contract, he's been exactly what the Warriors envisioned when they locked him up for at least the next four years: aggressive offensively when the flow of the game calls for it – he took six of the Warriors' first 12 shots of the game – and a glue guy, a connector that makes every lineup work.

Against the Nuggets, the Warriors posted a +48.3 net rating with Podziemski on the floor, the highest mark on the team. Podziemski chipped in 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists. He was a game-high +33 in his 33 minutes.

"I think over my career, the better players I play with, the more successful I am, and the team is," Podziemski said. "I think me just understanding spacing, screening angles, the little things, how to make his (Lendeborg) job easier, Steph's job easier. I guess that's a little gift I have. And so for me being able to be around good talent, it's just so easy to play."

Curry waits his turn, then catches fire

The Warriors went into the locker room at halftime with a four-point lead despite Curry having taken just one shot: a made three in the second quarter. Curry was not scoring, but his teammates fed off all the attention the Nuggets paid to him, which created a ton of open looks.

Eight different Warriors knocked down a three in the first half, with most of those makes resulting from Curry drawing more than one defender. Golden State went 22-for-44 – a 50% clip – from three as a team. The ball was moving, cutters were open, the offense was humming.

Instead of forcing the issue, Curry was patient, knowing that his time would eventually come. As is often the case with number 30, it eventually did.

Curry went on one of his signature flurries in the third quarter, erupting for 17 points on 6-of-6 shooting. Lendeborg added 12 points and six rebounds. The Warriors put together their first 40-point quarter of the season, giving them an extra cushion heading into the final frame. Curry, Lendeborg and Podziemski combined for 34 of those 40 points.

Curry ended his night with 24 points in just 27 minutes without missing a single shot, going 8-for-8, the second perfect game of his 18-season career after he first accomplished that feat back in 2011 against New Orleans.

There’s plenty to learn, but Lendeborg is catching on quickly

At 6'9" and 241 pounds, Lendeborg stands out physically. But his ability to adapt to the NBA and learn quickly has jumped out even more. Steve Kerr expressed after the Phoenix game his desire to see Lendeborg run harder in transition, calling him a "coaster." In the first quarter against Denver, the rookie hustled back in transition to block Christian Braun at the rim, then sprinted the other way and got himself a layup.

Since his first NBA practice, everybody around him – from teammates to coaches to family members and friends – has implored him to be more aggressive as a driver. He shot 13 free throws against Denver, made 12 of them, and scored seven buckets at the rim, adjusting the way he attacks shot blockers after getting his shot blocked a few times in his first three games.

"There's still probably 10 plays that I can pull up on tape where he made mistakes either defensively or offensively, not recognizing something that he needs to recognize," Kerr said. "Despite all that, he just dominated the game and took over at 24 in his fourth game, so pretty impressive. We're going to keep coaching him and keep trying to get him to learn the NBA game and make the most of that enormous potential he's got."

The rookie has had to process a lot of new information since training camp began a few weeks ago. Draymond Green, who's constantly been feeding him the knowledge he's acquired over his 14 NBA seasons, has been struck by how rapidly he puts it into practice.

"He can apply it right away," Green said. "Like you tell him something and he comes down the next play and it happens, he applies it right away. So that's special in itself."

Four games into his NBA career, Lendeborg has already etched his name into the record books. By scoring over 85 points and grabbing at least 35 rebounds in that span, Lendeborg joined Patrick Ewing, David Robinson and Shaquille O'Neal as the only players since the start of the draft lottery era (1985-86) to reach those numbers in their first four career games.

"Absolutely," Lendeborg said when asked if he's surprised himself statistically. "Especially this game, I had 13 free throws and that's like that's crazy. That's absurd for me. And on a night where I can't make a three for nothing, it's crazy that it's like my best game so far because it was very frustrating for me, but you know I'm just glad we got our first win. I'm very happy about that. I would have cried if we had lost the game, but I'm just happy to get one on the board."

Monday night illustrated the Warriors' recipe for success until they get Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody back. Making shots when Curry draws the attention. Creating space for him when he's hot. Staying afloat when he's on the bench. Flying around on defense. The Warriors checked all the boxes in their first win of the season.

Next on the schedule are a retooled Timberwolves team and old friend Jonathan Kuminga. All the boxes will need to be checked again for the Warriors to leave Minnesota with a win.

"We were hungry, we needed a win bad," Curry said postgame.

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