Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg benched after chasing 40 points against Clippers
The 21-point lead shrank to eight after the rookie missed three consecutive three-pointers while teammates urged him to reach the milestone.
By Lucas Navarro ·
Yaxel Lendeborg scored 37 points in his eighth game as a Golden State Warriors rookie on Sunday. He shot 85 percent true shooting percentage and made six of 11 three-pointers. He also recorded six assists. The performance marked his highest scoring total of the season.
The Warriors led the Los Angeles Clippers by 21 points for most of the contest. With 2:14 remaining in the fourth quarter, head coach Steve Kerr pulled Lendeborg from the floor. The Clippers had cut the deficit to eight points during a two-minute stretch. Lendeborg missed three three-pointers during that run, including two that Kerr described as total chuck jobs.
Kerr said the game shifted when players on the bench began urging Lendeborg to reach 40 points. He noted that the NBA can change quickly, with 25-point leads falling almost every night. Kerr stated that the team lost its rhythm while Lendeborg attempted those final shots.
"He would've had 40 if we had just kept playing normally," Kerr said. "The game changed when all the guys on the bench were yelling at Yax to get 40. He launched three kind of bad shots. A lesson is, if you just keep playing, then you stay in rhythm, you stay in flow, the ball moves, and then the game becomes much easier."
After Lendeborg sat, De'Antony Melton hit two consecutive three-pointers to seal the win. Melton had been effective throughout the night. The Warriors won their fourth straight game after starting the season 0-3. Lendeborg acknowledged the mistake in his postgame interview.
"I've never been a stat chaser in my life," Lendeborg said. "So, I mean, just falling into peer pressure like I did just now was pretty much bad on my part. Especially just, I'm a guy that loves, like, ethical hoops. I'm a guy that loves efficient basketball, and I didn't do that for the last two to three minutes."
Lendeborg explained that Melton approached him and said he needed 40 points. Lendeborg said Melton held the ball to force a shot, which he missed. Will Richards then also urged him to take the next attempt. Lendeborg said he will rely on the flow of the game next time, noting the Clippers hit four straight three-pointers while he was out of rhythm.
