Yaxel Lendeborg Scores 37 as Warriors Top Clippers

Yaxel Lendeborg drained 6 of 11 from 3-point range and scored a career-high 37 points as the Golden State Warriors beat the Los Angeles Clippers 124-112 on Sunday night at Chase Center, the AP reported. The rookie did it on a night Stephen Curry and Draymond Green both sat out.

That's the most points by a Warriors rookie since Curry dropped 42 on April 14, 2010, at Portland. The win is Golden State's fourth straight, which gets the Warriors to 4-3 after an 0-3 start. The Clippers fall to 1-5 and have lost five in a row.

A Rookie Running the Show

Lendeborg was efficient all night, shooting 13 for 19 from the field with six assists in 34 minutes. His best stretch came midway through the third quarter, when he scored five straight points to push the Warriors in front 83-68, their biggest lead to that point.

The history here is wild. Lendeborg now has two 30-point games in his first seven NBA games, which puts him alongside Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain and Rick Barry as the only Warriors to do that. It was also his fourth game with at least 20 points. And it came two nights after a rough outing against the Lakers on Friday, when he fouled out.

He had plenty of help with the two stars resting. De'Anthony Melton went 6 for 8 from deep for 21 points, Brandin Podziemski put up 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and Brandon Williams scored 17 off the bench as the Golden State reserves totaled 40.

The Clippers Keep Sliding

Rui Hachimura led the Clippers with 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting, and Kobe Sanders added 16 off the bench. Darius Garland had 15 points and seven assists but went just 4 for 12 from the field.

The Clippers were also on the front end of a back-to-back, and Golden State's 3-point shooting, led by Lendeborg and Melton, was too much to keep up with.

The night also doubled as a celebration. Gabby Williams, Tiffany Hayes and Kiah Stokes of the WNBA champion Golden State Valkyries walked through Chase Center to huge cheers a night after winning the first Game 7 in Finals history, and the team was honored at midcourt in the first half.

Up Next and the Smacktok Lean

Both teams play again Monday at 7 PM PT. The Warriors host the Suns at Chase Center, and the Clippers host the Raptors at Intuit Dome.

Our Smacktok lean: Curry and Green rested for the front end of this back-to-back, so if they are back against Phoenix, we'd lean lower on Lendeborg's points after a 37-point night with a bigger role than usual.