Golden State beat the Clippers 124-112 with Curry and Draymond Green resting, but Steve Kerr pulled Lendeborg late as a 21-point lead shrank to eight.
Yaxel Lendeborg put up 37 points on 6-for-11 shooting from three, adding 4 rebounds, 6 assists and a steal in 34 minutes as the Warriors beat the Clippers 124-112 on Sunday night with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green both resting. It's the most points by a Warriors rookie since Curry himself dropped a big night back in 2010, and it put Lendeborg alongside Curry and Wilt Chamberlain in the franchise's rookie record books.
The performance came with a wrinkle. As the Clippers clawed a 21-point Golden State lead down to eight with about two minutes left, Steve Kerr benched Lendeborg instead of leaving him in to chase 40. Lendeborg later said he regretted "falling into peer pressure" to go after the round number, suggesting the pursuit of a highlight stat line crept into his head during the fourth quarter.
Lendeborg has quickly become a bigger part of Golden State's offense with Jimmy Butler still rehabbing a torn right ACL and Curry managing his own injury concerns. His two 30-point games this season already match the combined total of all Warriors rookies over the previous five years, and the comparisons to stars like Jayson Tatum and Paul George are starting to follow him around.