Yaxel Lendeborg, who clashed with Luka Doncic on NBA debut, shines as Warriors beat Nuggets for first win

Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg scored a career-high 31 points for the Golden State Warriors in their 134-114 win over the Denver Nuggets. This was their first win of the season today. In a game that featured stars like Steph Curry, Nikola Jokic, and Jamal Murray, it was the rookie who grabbed headlines, putting on a show at Ball Arena.

The 24-year-old rookie spent 31 minutes on the court, putting up a double-double, scoring 31 points and making 12 rebounds. Lendeborg also assisted his teammates 6 times. He was pretty handy with the ball, converting 9 of his 19 field goal attempts, though he struggled to score from deep. Only one of eight 3-point attempts went in.




The Michigan alum was near perfect when it came to executing free throws, making 12 of his 13 attempts from the charity stripe. Yaxel is enjoying a great start to life in the NBA. He keeps upping his game and earning plaudits with his ability.

In the Warriors' loss to the Phoenix Suns, the former Wolverines player delivered a 26-point performance. Against Memphis, he spent 37 minutes on the court, scoring 18 points in a close encounter. In his debut against the Lakers, he had his worst game, but still came up with 12 points.

Lendeborg, in his debut season, is now averaging 21.8 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 4.8 assists. He is converting 45 percent of his field goals and 77.4 percent of his free throws. Shooting from deep seems to be an issue for him, as he averages only 34.6 percent on his 3-pointers.

The Warriors rookie, Yaxel Lendeborg, had already grabbed headlines on his debut but for the wrong reasons. He got into it with Lakers’ Luka Doncic, repeatedly cussing at Slovenian throughout the game. Doncic got under rookie’s skin with his mind games, challenging him to back his trash talk with performances on the court.

Yaxel appears to have taken those words to heart. The rookie has continued to deliver impressive performances, backing up his potential with strong numbers.



The Warriors head coach, Steve Kerr, was impressed with the rookie’s performance, though he still feels there are things he needs to get a handle on and has room for a lot of growth.

Kerr had high praise for Lendeborg, comparing him to Jimmy Butler for his ability to slow down the game, earn fouls and create scoring opportunities for himself.

While Yaxel’s performance has the 4-time NBA-winning coach excited, he isn’t letting the rookie off the hook, highlighting that Michigan Alum still made mistakes on both sides of the ball, which he needs to recognize and weed out from his game. There is still a learning curve for him but the potential is limitless.



"I think that’s the exciting part, is where this can go. There’s still probably 10 plays that I could pull up on tape where he made mistakes, either defensively or offensively. Not recognizing something he needs to recognize. Despite all that, he just dominated the game and took over. We’re gonna keep coaching him, keep trying to get him to learn the NBA game, and make the most of that enormous potential he’s got."

The Golden State Warriors finally got on board and are 1-3. The team is beginning to gel together and these are exciting times for their fans. They have a new rookie on the team who has potential to become a star like Steph Curry and dominate the NBA for years to come.