Yaxel Lendeborg should become the Golden State Warriors’ primary scorer after Stephen Curry’s right oblique tear. Brandin Podziemski should handle the first pass and get the rookie moving toward the rim. Curry’s absence gives Steve Kerr a chance to see whether that division of work can hold up against a defense that has time to prepare for it.
Curry left Wednesday’s game with 6:25 remaining in the first quarter, and an MRI confirmed the tear. The team’s injury update set a reevaluation in two weeks. The Houston Rockets won 115–108 at Toyota Center to end the Warriors’ eight-game winning streak, with Lendeborg leading Golden State with 25 points and 10 rebounds.
Curry averaged 27.8 points and shot 45.7% from three through 10 starts. Defenders had to follow him well beyond the arc, opening room for teammates to cut behind them. Lendeborg can put pressure on the same defense from closer to the basket, especially if a teammate delivers the ball before help arrives.
What Houston Revealed About Yaxel Lendeborg’s New Role
The Houston box score credits Lendeborg with 19 shots and eight free-throw attempts, with seven makes on 12 attempts inside the arc. Podziemski added 22 points and four assists, while Lendeborg finished without an assist. The official game book shows the rookie scored 13 in the second quarter, including a bank hook through contact. A pull-up three cut the deficit to one.
Fred VanVleet stole the ball from Lendeborg at 10:50 of the third quarter, and Amen Thompson dunked three seconds later to put the Rockets up nine. Draymond Green found Lendeborg for a layup at 8:27 that brought the Warriors within five. Golden State had to redistribute Curry’s touches on the fly. Green’s pass let the rookie finish without having to create a shot off the dribble.
The Clippers Game Offers A Starting Point
Kerr had time to prepare when he rested Curry and Green against the Los Angeles Clippers. Lendeborg scored 37 points and added six assists, and the team recap credits him with six threes on 11 attempts. Podziemski finished with eight assists as the Warriors made 22 threes, but two passes to the rim offer a better starting point for a colder shooting night.
The earlier Curry analysis highlighted a third-quarter lob after De’Anthony Melton’s back screen left Darius Garland guarding Lendeborg. Podziemski made the pass before help arrived and found the rookie for another layup 72 seconds later. Golden State can get back to those looks by using movement to give Lendeborg a step on his defender before the catch.
Lendeborg also had 26 points and five assists in a loss to the Phoenix Suns with Curry, Green and Podziemski sitting. Phoenix scored 26 points off turnovers, showing how quickly giveaways can erase the rookie’s production. The absences changed several jobs at once, so the game offers a clearer warning about ball security than a measure of Podziemski’s individual impact.
How Kerr Can Build Around Yaxel Lendeborg
The previous rookie breakdown tracked 40 assists and 35 turnovers through Lendeborg’s first 10 games, with 24 giveaways concentrated in four outings. Separate tracking found that the Warriors scored 122.2 points per 100 estimated possessions in 60 minutes and 51 seconds with Lendeborg and Podziemski together without Curry. The Denver Nuggets game accounted for 14 of the 26 points by which those lineups outscored opponents across four wins. Golden State still committed 18.4 turnovers per 100 estimated possessions.
Podziemski can bring the ball up and get Lendeborg a catch at the elbow, where one dribble can put him in the lane. Green can start a possession from the high post, using a handoff with Melton to draw a defender up the floor. Lendeborg can cut behind the handoff and receive the ball with his defender trailing.
A switch gives Podziemski a chance to feed Lendeborg early if a smaller defender takes him after the screen. A blitz gives the rookie a different read when he catches on the short roll. The corner shooter can hold his spot while a baseline cutter moves behind the defender who steps up to stop Lendeborg.
What Would Count As A Successful Stretch?
The Warriors visit the San Antonio Spurs on Friday in NBA Cup play, and San Antonio enters with 10 straight wins. The San Francisco Chronicle identified six games before Curry’s reevaluation, including four on the road and two on consecutive nights. Reuters put Golden State at 13–26 without Curry last season, so a 3–3 stretch would count as progress on this schedule.
Kerr can judge the offense by whether it still generates rim attempts and open corner threes in closing minutes. Live-ball turnovers matter because they can give opponents a clean run at the other basket, as Houston showed after VanVleet’s steal. A late possession that ends with Lendeborg catching inside the arc offers a better test of the offense than an early scoring burst.
End Of My Yaxel Lendeborg Rant
Yaxel Lendeborg should get the first designed touch after halftime, with Melton setting the back screen and Podziemski making the pass. A layup or an open corner three earns another call, while repeated catches outside the lane tell Kerr to change the angle. Curry can occupy the weak-side defender when he returns, giving the Warriors a reason to keep the action in the rotation.
