Yaxel Lendeborg scored a personal career-high 37 points as the Golden State Warriors defeated the Los Angeles Clippers, 124-112, on November 1, 2026, without one Wardell Stephen Curry II or Draymond Green.
After the Warriors’ fourth consecutive victory, Steve Kerr, De'Anthony Melton, Lendeborg and Brandin Podziemski shared their perspectives on Yaxel's emergence, how Golden State can play through him, and what went wrong when his teammates encouraged him to chase 40 points.
Here are our Top Ten postgame quotes, followed by the free video interviews and full transcripts for paid subscribers.
“And so I think what we're understanding is that Steph doesn't have to take on the load every game to close games out. He can get a rest a little bit and we can play through Yaxel.” — Kerr
My hot take: Yep, ideally 28 minutes is the new 32, but hey, I’m just happy we are breaking old habits and starting to think along those lines of leaning to the youngsters, swinging the pendulum to more of the future than the past.
“Yeah, I mean, it changes everything. You see on a night like tonight without Steph, we score 124 points and Yax is the main reason that we’re high-powered.” — Steve
My hot take: Whodathunk we’d get another Jimmy Butler-type in the Draft, as it turns out. Crazy sequence of developments and we are still only at Game 7 of 82.
“But it’s the way Coach Kerr is pretty much making the offense flow is through me, so I just gotta learn to be aggressive, learn to be selfish a couple times. That’s never been who I am, but sometimes I gotta just practice it, see if it’ll work out for me in a couple games or a couple years down the line.” — Yaxel
My hot take: Leave it to Yax to turn the topic of selfishness into a humble response. Incredibly self-aware and mature of him to understand that something you want in a couple games might actually not get figured out for a couple years.
“1,000%. I mean, he just be going out there playing, so, like, that’s what we love about him. He don’t even know what he be doing sometimes. He just be hoopin’.” — Melton on being surprised by Yax
My hot take: I like Melt’s follow-up anecdote from training camp even more so, but along these lines. Check the full transcript for that. Very “big brother” of Melton and that is really cool, actually.
“No… I mean, like I said, he’s physically ready. He’s 24, spent five years in college, got to develop his body, understands how to use his body, and he’s 6’10, so it makes a lot of sense.” — Podziemski when asked if Yaxel’s emergence surprised him
My hot take: I am on a quest to figure out how this 6’10” dude got such good handles. I’ve already been told he had it at UAB, so I shall follow up in due time.
“It's all Melton's fault, guys, by the way. But De’Anthony Melton went up to me and said, ‘Hey, man, you need to get 40. You’re three points away.’ And I'm like, ‘Nah, man, it’s all good.’ And then he just peer-pressured me into doing it.” — Yax
My hot take: This guy really was criticized for being “goofy” (adjective used by my Yaxel source) in interviews? He is a frickin’ breath of fresh air and deserves to have the pendulum swung completely the other way, given two consecutive Pre-Drafts where he was murdered for this. Another strike against the old establishment of Draft personnel, but I just think the NBA has too many bad teams. That’s why they act like they do every year and like my co-host Dean Chambers often laments, they just do not pick THE best player when it’s their turn! But I get it. One of these days we WILL see a Tyrese Haliburton get picked before a James Wiseman and I will salute the GM who has the balls to do that, but… I expect sheep mentality to ultimately reign supreme, still. It’s just what the average human being does 🤷🏻♂️
“He would've had 40 if we had just kept playing… And the 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, and so I think that’s the lesson for him and for our team.”
My hot take: And we have Melt to thank for this, right? Ain’t it funny how things happen for a reason? But basketball is just like life, so if you take a moment to consider this, you will find it more often the case than not 😉
“He’s got so much confidence and so much innocence. It’s really an interesting combination. I mean, he’s so excited to be in the NBA. Five years ago he was playing in junior college in Yuma, Arizona, and now he’s getting 37 in NBA games. It’s an incredible story.” — Steve
My hot take: Leave it to Steve to pick the right words again. What Yaxel got killed for in two consecutive Pre-Draft processes was really his innocence. We need more Steve Kerrs vetting out Draft prospects. That ain’t happening, though 😕
“It was awesome. She looked just like Steph Curry in my opinion, that last game. It was, like, first half I think she had six points, then you come out second half and you just score like, what, 20-plus points right away. Three back-to-back threes.” — Yax on the Game 7 performance of Gabby Williams
My hot take: Well, actually, Yax, she looked more like one Michael Jeffrey Jordan — twenty-eight second-half points on buckets all over the floor! — but you are too young to get that, I know. Come to find out from Golden State Valkyries reporters like Kenzo Fukuda of ClutchPoints that Williams was asking the coaching staff when it was time to flip the switch — danggggg! (More on this, later.)
“I think collectively we’re just buying into that and it’s not selfish. It’s thinking, like, ‘Hey, what do I need to do on this possession to help our team be successful in the possession?’ And when all five guys are doing that, you usually get success from that.” — Podz on connectivity
My hot take: Just a week-and-a-half ago in LA on Opening Night, our Warriors were NOT thinking on every possession and now they are. I still need to see Steph and Dray fully embrace that at tipoff with 110% of every fiber of their being dedicated to no turnovers, but we are witnessing a team that learns from its mistakes, which was curiously not the case the past four years, although we can excuse the equivalent of one year due to Jimmy coming in and elevating them to the fourth-best record in the NBA during that time. So, four years of bad habits with, now, a renewed commitment to right those wrongs — finally!
Watch Party → Postgame Recap
Relive Yaxel’s 37-point explosion and the Warriors’ 124-112 victory without Steph or Dray! Our original live Watch Party, now repurposed as a game recap, includes real-time and timestamped reactions, analysis and discussion of what this performance could mean for Golden State going forward.
🔒 Below the paywall: Full, timestamped postgame transcripts from Steve, Melt, Yax and BP following the Warriors’ 124-112 win over the Clippers — including every question and answer, exclusively for paid subscribers. Thank you for supporting independent Warriors coverage! 👇
