The Golden State Warriors have won their first game of the regular season, crushing the Denver Nuggets on Monday night thanks to another career-best performance from Yaxel Lendeborg.
After going for 26 points, nine rebounds and five assists on Saturday against the Phoenix Suns, Lendeborg soared to new heights again two days later with 31 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in the 134-114 victory.
Yaxel Lendeborg continues to dominate as Warriors record first win
The most impressive aspect to Lendeborg's game might have been that he was actually ice cold from three-point range. The rookie forward shot 6-of-11 from beyond the arc against the Suns, but just 1-of-8 against the Nuggets on Monday night.
But that just goes to showcase Lendeborg's all-round, versatile skillset. The 24-year-old got to the line on 13 occassions (making 12), while regularly bullying Denver in the paint and capping off his first 30-point game with an alley-oop dunk in transition.
He beat them up on the boards with a dozen, four of which came on the offensive end. He repeatedly found teammates for open shots, with his final dime for a Gui Santos three putting the hosts to sleep as coach David Adelman was forced to take a timeout and pull his starters with 3:35 remaining in the fourth.
It was an All-Star level performance from Lendeborg, let alone a Rookie of the Year display. The 11th overall pick finished as a +27 in his nearly 31 minutes, only shaded by fellow youngster Brandin Podziemski who was a +33 on a night where he dropped an impressive 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Stephen Curry has ultra efficient game in Denver
Franchise superstar Stephen Curry almost played the backseat role to Lendeborg in the 20-point win, but it was an incredibly efficient display from the two-time MVP who didn't miss a shot in his less than 27 minutes.
Curry finished with 24 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals, shooting 8-of-8 from the floor, 3-of-3 from three-point range, and 5-of-5 from the free-throw line. Golden State shot 54.1% from the floor and 50% from beyond the arc, torching a straight up poor Denver defense over the last three quarters.
Al Horford went 3-of-3 from deep for 11 points off the bench, while Georges Niang finally got going in drilling three triples as well after missing his first 12 attempts as a Warrior. Horford and Draymond Green did a quality job on three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, keeping the Nuggets superstar to just 19 points on 8-of-18 shooting.
The Warriors move to 1-3 on the season and will hope to take some confidence into another tough matchup against Jonathan Kuminga and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday.
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