SAN FRANCISCO — Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg scored a career-high 37 points and dished out six assists in a game in which Golden State rested stars Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, and the Warriors beat the Clippers 124-112 for their fourth straight win Sunday night.
Lendeborg notched his fourth game with 20 or more points, scoring five straight midway through the third quarter that gave the Warriors their biggest lead to that point at 83-68. He shot 13 for 19 — six of 11 from three-point range — and his points were the most by a Warriors rookie since Curry went off for 42 on April 14, 2010, at Portland.
With two 30-point performances among his initial seven games, Lendeborg joined Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain and Rick Barry as the only other Warriors to do so. Lendeborg bounced back from a tough outing in a win against the Lakers on Friday in which he fouled out.
Brandon Williams scored 17 points off the bench as the Golden State reserves contributed 40 points in all.
Rui Hachimura had 24 points and Kobe Sanders came off the bench to score 16 for the Clippers, who lost their fifth straight game.
Curry and Green had the night off for the front end of a back-to-back, with the Clippers also playing in the first of consecutive games.
Golden State has found a rhythm since starting 0-3.
Brandin Podziemski overcame a slow start to finish with 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and De’Anthony Melton added 21 points for the Warriors, who were big supporters of the Golden State Valkyries’ run to a WNBA championship that was capped by a thrilling Game 7 win Saturday.
Gabby Williams, Tiffany Hayes and Kiah Stokes walked through Chase Center a night after the Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream in the first Game 7 in Finals history to huge cheers as they made their way to seats in the first quarter. The team was honored at midcourt in the first half.
The arena crew has been busy, changing the court after the Warriors played Friday night and again after Saturday’s WNBA finale.
Up next for the Clippers: vs. the Toronto Raptors at Crypto.com Arena on Monday.
LAS VEGAS — The plan for the Lakers had been to turn their fourth preseason game into a dress rehearsal for the upcoming season.
But that was not the case.
The Lakers did get the preseason debut of center Walker Kessler on Tuesday night, a good sign for them to see their biggest acquisition of the summer play.
But on the flip side, Luka Doncic didn’t play in the Lakers’ 101-89 loss to the Golden State Warriors at T-Mobile Arena because he was resting.
“He’s not injured, just getting the night off,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said.
So, it was left up to Kessler, Austin Reaves and the rest of the available Lakers to sort things out. And Reaves and Kessler were on point.
In just his second preseason game, Reaves was doing what is expected of him, scoring 28 points on 10-for-18 shooting, including four for seven on three-pointers, with seven assists and four rebounds. But forced to handle the ball more with Doncic out, Reaves also had seven turnovers.
Kessler started and had 11 points, nine rebounds, one blocked shot and one steal in 16 minutes.
For the Lakers, it was good to see Kessler on the court. They gave up a lot to acquire him in a trade with the Utah Jazz — two unprotected first-round picks and two pick swaps and then signing him to a four-year, $130-million contract.
Kessler played in only five games last season while recovering from a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
He missed the first three Lakers’ preseason games because of a left pinky injury.
Kessler yearned to play again.
“Yeah, I mean it was a lot of fun being out there again,” he said. “It’s been so long. Before the game I was actually pretty nervous, to be honest. But, getting out there and just playing with the guys, it was a blast. I can’t really, you know speak to … I think I have a certain presence on the floor, but I think my teammates around me did a great job of playing defense on the perimeter. I think we shared the ball really well tonight. Just how it was, especially in the first half. It was a lot of fun.”
He began his night with a defensive rebound, which allowed the Lakers to set up their offense early in the first quarter.
Kessler then cut to the basket, took a pass from Reaves and scored on a layup, his first points of the preseason.
His second basket was a left-handed layup early in the second quarter. Shortly after, Kessler blocked a shot by Warriors center Charles Bassey from behind, a display of his defensive presence.
Another good sign, less than a minute later, was when Kessler got an offensive rebound and bounded back up for a dunk.
When the Warriors went to their small-ball lineup in the first quarter, it meant the 7-foot-2 Kessler would be tested on defense, because his man was 6-2 Gary Payton II. It meant Kessler was forced to play defense on the perimeter and not down low where the Lakers prefer him.
Still, Kessler held his own.
Lakers forward Arthur Kaluma drives the ball against Warriors forward Yaxel Lendeborg during the first half Tuesday.
(David Becker / AP)
While he was out and unable to play, Kessler learned a few things about himself.
“Yeah, I think what I missed most was competing,” Kessler said. “Quite frankly, competing to win, and I think as far as making me a better basketball player, I just think it has made me long to go try to win every game and win every night. So returning, I think it makes me a little better basketball player.”
The Lakers lost to the Warriors for the second time this preseason. Their other two games were victories over the Sacramento Kings. They play one more preseason game, Friday night against the Denver Nuggets at Crypto.com Arena, and then open the season against the Warriors at home on Oct. 21.
Before the game, Redick said the plan was for the Lakers to “continue to work on us.”
“We have kind of circled this game, not as a full dress rehearsal, just in terms of our scout presentation, but we gave the guys a sample of that this morning and at shoot-ariund,” Redick said. “Not as much game-planning necessarily, but just kind of the sequencing of how we present prior to a game. We’ll do the same thing pregame with a brief personnel tape. We just want to get better. I mean, that’s the biggest thing. We want to get healthy, we want to get better, we want to continue to build our fitness and cardio level and find a rhythm. And it’s been a little disjointed with having some guys out.”
Redick said rookie Cameron Carr, guard Collin Sexton (lower leg) and forwards Ziaire Williams (right foot contusion) and Adou Thiero (undisclosed) “are still day to day” with their injuries.
Stanway’s strikes in the last five days capped off a season in which she finished as England’s top scorer and netted 11 times in her last 11 matches.
She also ranks inside the top three for most goals scored by European players in international football since Euro 2025.
While Wiegman was frustrated by her side’s lack of ruthlessness in Greece, Stanway always looked dangerous and made sure she got on the scoresheet.
It felt inevitable she would join in the fun in Leicester when Alessia Russo and Lauren James grabbed a double each.
Stanway came close to matching them when the Arsenal midfielder coolly took control of a long ball inside the box with one deft touch and, with the second, fired it powerfully into the bottom corner.
It would have been the perfect strike to mark an impressive few days but it was ruled out for offside, much to Wiegman’s dismay.
“She is always so eager to go towards goal. She has that tenacity in her,” said the England boss when asked about Stanway’s goalscoring form.
“She is always aggressive out of possession but also in possession. She scored a great header and controlled that really good ball from Alex Greenwood.
“That was really good athleticism and composure. Unfortunately that was disallowed but it was really good!
“Football is about scoring goals, but also playing in the pockets, keeping the ball and connecting with other players – and I was happy with her [doing those].”
Former England goalkeeper Rachel Brown-Finnis told BBC Radio 5 Live that Stanway was “unplayable at times” against Greece on Tuesday night.
She won all her tackles, had a 90% passing accuracy rate, took four shots, scored once and had another disallowed.
It was also a slightly different role for Stanway for most of the match as she played more as a right winger after changes in the midfield.
“She has something different to others,” Wiegman told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“She is goal-orientated, has a great shot and the disallowed goal showed her great mobility and athleticism.
“When you really need a fight, or a duel, or a counter-attack breaking up, she is there. She is a warrior who you can play a possession game with too.”
