Warriors Rally Past Lakers as Lendeborg Struggles Against Doncic

Stephen Curry scored 31 points with eight 3-pointers as Golden State erased a 25-point first-half deficit to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 112-95 on Friday night at Chase Center, the Warriors' third straight win after opening the season 0-3.

The game marked the NBA Cup group stage opener for both teams.

Luka Doncic scored 21 of his 37 points in the first quarter, outscoring the entire Warriors roster in that period as the Lakers built a 25-point lead before halftime. He finished with seven rebounds, five assists, two blocks and one steal.

Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg, who had drawn attention for comments about Doncic after his first career NBA game, was held to six points, one rebound and no assists with five turnovers. He committed early fouls, finished with a game-low minus-20 rating in 24 minutes and fouled out.

Lendeborg addressed his outing after the game. Asked what he would do differently, he said he would "try not to wet the bed as bad as I did." He also credited his teammates: "Them boys had my back today." He added that he stayed "a little too calm" and never found a rhythm.

Golden State's bench outscored the Lakers' bench 50-7. Brandin Podziemski contributed 21 points, six assists and five rebounds. De'Anthony Melton and Georges Niang combined for 27 points and seven 3-pointers. Draymond Green handed out nine assists and took over defensive duties on Doncic. The Warriors held Los Angeles to 57 points across the final three quarters, producing a 42-point swing from the first-half margin.

Curry moved past Dominique Wilkins into 18th place on the NBA's all-time scoring list during the game.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr had spoken to Lendeborg about team defense after the season opener, when the Lakers scored 127 points. "He did a good job on Luka one-on-one, but we got torched by Luka as a team," Kerr said. "All those stats that the NBA puts up, like, 'Hey, when he guarded him, who the eff cares?' It's like, they scored 127 on us. That stuff's all bulls. It's our defense."

Kerr and Curry had previously told Lendeborg, after his earlier comments about Doncic, "Now you've got to back it up." Lendeborg said after Friday's game, "I feel like I was the only Debbie downer on the team. I feel like next time I get into one of these games, just try to be that guy sucking up all the energy."