Behind Yaxel Lendeborg’s career-high 37 points, the Golden State Warriors extended their winning streak to four with a 124-112 victory over the Clippers on Sunday.
Lendeborg bounced back from a poor showing against the Lakers, finishing 13-of-19 from the field with six assists and just two turnovers. He became the first Warriors rookie since Stephen Curry in 2010 to score 37 points in a game.
De’Anthony Melton (21 points), Brandin Podziemski (17) and Brandon Williams (17) provided support scoring for the Dubs (4-3), who were without Curry and Draymond Green (resting on front end of a back-to-back).
Rui Hachimura had a team-high 24 points for the Clippers (1-5).
Here are two takeaways from Sunday’s game.
Yaxel’s 3-Point Shooting Is Not a Fluke
Aside from the fact that Lendeborg was a 23-year-old on draft night, one of the reasons he fell out of the top 10 was question marks about his three-point shooting.
Lendeborg shot 37.2 percent from three as a senior on 180 attempts. That’s a decent percentage, but it’s actually misleading. Lendeborg was shooting just 28.7 percent on his first 101 attempts, but then he shot a blistering 48.1 percent on his last 79.
OK, but still, you had to wonder how comfortable he’d be in the NBA after spending most of his first five seasons in college not putting up many threes.
We’re seven games into his NBA career, and I’ve seen enough. He’s a legit three-point shooter.
Lendeborg went 6-of-11 from three against the Clippers, raising his three-point percentage to 40.9.
He’s not just taking wide-open ones, either. On Sunday, he hit two step-back threes and another one off an in-and-out dribble.
His form looks good. The fact that he’s 6’9″ makes it easier for him to get them off (as does the fact that teams have to respect his driving ability). When he has to shoot them off the dribble, his handle allows him to get into rhythm.
The question will be if he can sustain this over the course of a season. As long as he doesn’t have a massive month-long slump, he’ll be exceeding the expectations of most fans/pundits.
Kerr’s Rotation Decisions Pay Off
Steve Kerr had two difficult decisions to make with the starting lineup.
He had to decide whether Williams or Melton would start at point guard for Curry, and he had to decide whether Charles Bassey or Al Horford would start at center for Green.
He went with Melton and Bassey in the first five, with Williams and Horford playing big roles off the bench.
The fact that all four played well suggests he made the right decisions.
Melton’s hot shooting continued, as he went 6-of-8 from three. He’s now 19-of-36 from three on the season, which is surprising considering he shot just 29.4 percent from three last season.
Williams had arguably his best game as a Warrior, going 7-of-11 from the field with three assists and just one turnover.
Bassey had six points and 10 rebounds, while Horford made three three-pointers.
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