Yaxel Lendeborg kept Golden State’s offense moving

Yaxel Lendeborg found Al Horford, who made a 26-foot 3-pointer with 57.9 seconds left in the first quarter. By the final horn, Lendeborg had supplied four more assists, six made field goals and enough activity to make Golden State’s 128-118 preseason victory over Portland about more than Stephen Curry’s familiar statistical headline.

Curry did not have a particularly friendly relationship with the rim Friday at Chase Center. He finished with 20 points on 7-for-19 shooting and went 3-for-11 from 3-point range. His five assists and one turnover still made him part of a productive offense, and the Warriors received needed finishing and passing from several other players.

Lendeborg gave them another forward who could finish plays and move the ball. He scored 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting, made 2 of 3 from distance and added four rebounds, two steals and a block in 26 minutes.

Those numbers do not establish a permanent role from one preseason game, but they do show why his contribution deserved more attention than a glance at Curry’s scoring total.

The passing was the more interesting part. In the second quarter, Lendeborg scored on a driving dunk with 6:47 remaining, then added a short two-point basket at the 6:01 mark. Later, at 4:39, he assisted Horford on another 27-foot 3-pointer.

The sequence did not require Lendeborg to dominate the ball. It required him to turn his touches into either a finish or a pass that ended in points.

He did similar work after halftime. Lendeborg assisted Gui Santos on a running layup at 8:08 of the third quarter, then found Brandin Podziemski for a 25-foot 3-pointer at 3:07. At 2:36, Horford made another 25-footer with Lendeborg credited for the assist.

Golden State led 105-91 after three quarters, and Lendeborg’s combination of scoring and distribution helped keep the offense from becoming a one-player weather system.

Draymond Green remained the team’s central organizer. He had 10 assists, eight rebounds and seven points, supplying most of his offensive contribution through passing. Green’s passing volume was more substantial than Lendeborg’s, and nothing about Friday changes that hierarchy of experience or responsibility.

But five assists from Lendeborg, paired with only one turnover, gave Golden State a second forward capable of making a possession useful without taking it away from Green or Curry.

That distinction showed up in the team totals. The Warriors finished with 29 assists and scored 128 points despite Curry’s 3-for-11 night from outside. Horford made all five of his field goals from 3-point range for 15 points, while Brandin Podziemski added 17 and Georges Niang scored 13.

Golden State’s reserves produced 61 points, compared with 47 from Portland’s bench. Lendeborg was one contributor in a broad effort, but his role was unusually well-rounded for a player who took only nine shots.

There were limits to the performance. He missed two of five free throws, and an offensive foul late in the third quarter became a turnover. Portland also won the fourth quarter 27-23, even though the Warriors had built a 14-point cushion entering it. A preseason box score can identify productive plays; it cannot settle how those minutes will be distributed once the schedule becomes consequential.

Lendeborg’s six made baskets on nine attempts also gave the passing a useful companion. The assists were added production rather than compensation for an empty scoring line. That is a particularly helpful contribution from a forward sharing possessions with Green and Curry.

The scoring total beside Curry’s name captured only part of Golden State’s night. Green created ten baskets through assists, Curry contributed while shooting unevenly, and Lendeborg connected the spaces between them with finishing and passing. For one evening, Golden State’s offense had several workable routes instead of waiting for one familiar road to clear.

Sources

ESPN: box score and play-by-play