With Stephen Curry out, the Warriors needed someone to help carry the offense, and rookie Yaxel Lendeborg got the chance. Friday night, though, was a rough one. He went 1-for-13 from the field in a 38-point loss to the Spurs, and he didn’t try to soften the blow afterward, according to ESPN’s Anthony Slater.
“I was flustered the entire game,” Lendeborg said. “Couldn’t make a damn layup.”
Victor Wembanyama was a major reason the Warriors kept running into trouble around the rim.
“Nobody wanted to go into the paint,” Lendeborg said. “Nobody wanted to get their shot blocked by him.
So we were all just doing some weak-ass floaters. I don’t know how many of us work on those.
Especially me. I shot like seven of them.
I never work on floaters since like [junior college].”
Lendeborg said the loss is going to stick with him.
“I’m not going to move past this,” Lendeborg said. “I don’t know about the rest of us.
Everybody said throw it out the window. I can’t throw a damn thing out the window.”
Elsewhere in the West, the Pelicans’ problems kept piling up. Earlier in the day, it was revealed that Dejounte Murray wanted to be traded, and then New Orleans was blown out by Memphis, 142-111, for its fifth straight defeat.
Over the last four losses, the Pelicans have allowed at least 138 points each time. Coach Jamahl Mosley told NOLA.com’s Isaac Constans that he’s still trying to settle on a rotation.
“It’s hard to find the data when guys are bumping in and bumping out, ” Mosley said. “These are not excuses. These are the reality of not being able to find the right sample size because you don’t have enough games to really measure it.”
In Denver, Jamal Murray is putting up big numbers - 26.2 points, 5.9 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game while shooting 50.9 percent - but he pushed back on the idea that he’s suddenly playing the best basketball of his career. Speaking with Bennett Durando of the Denver Post, he kept it simple.
“Not really, I’m not doing anything different, honestly,” he said. “Just playing my game.”
The Nuggets also made a roster move with three players currently out of the rotation. DaRon Holmes, Cam Whitmore and Ryan Nembhard were assigned to the Grand Rapids Gold, according to Vinny Benedetto of the Denver Gazette.
And in Phoenix, don’t look for the Suns to chase Kings center Domantas Sabonis, according to radio reporter John Gambadoro. Sabonis is due $45.5MM this season and $48.6MM next season before his contract expires, and the Suns already have two young centers. Mark Williams is also expected back from shoulder surgery around the All-Star break.
In Other News...
Nuggets Already Look Smarter For Betting On Cam Johnson
The Nuggets decision to lean into Cameron Johnson instead of Peyton Watson is already looking like the kind of move that can pay off in more ways than one. Johnson has settled in quickly on the offensive end for Denver, giving the team the spacing and shot-making it wanted, while the broader deal also brought back future draft picks and reshaped the roster with an eye on what comes next.
Watson, meanwhile, has had a rougher start in Cleveland, where the shooting efficiency just has not followed him yet. For Denver, the early returns are encouraging not only because Johnson is fitting the on-court need, but because the front office also created more financial breathing room for the seasons ahead, a detail that could matter just as much once the roster starts getting expensive again. [Read more 🡒]
Nuggets Have A Grizzlies Trade Idea Fans Will Want To Debate
The Nuggets are always looking for ways to sharpen the edges of a roster built around Nikola Jokic, and a new trade concept does exactly that by targeting two familiar problem areas at once: bench shooting and cap flexibility. The idea would bring in a pair of young Grizzlies guards, with one offering immediate value as a perimeter threat and the other giving Denver a possible answer at backup point guard.
For a team that has had to squeeze every bit of production out of the edges of its rotation, the appeal is easy to see. The proposal also comes with a financial angle that matters in Denver, since moving off Zeke Nnaji and attaching future draft capital would be part of the cost of making the numbers work. It is the kind of speculative deal that will split opinion, because the Nuggets would be betting on fit and function rather than proven impact. [Read more 🡒]
Jamal Murray Is Carrying The Nuggets Into An Uncomfortable Debate
Jamal Murray has opened the season looking like the kind of guard Denver has always hoped he could be, and the numbers back it up. Through the first 10 games, he has averaged 26.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.9 assists while shooting 50.9% from the field and 51.3% from three-point range, a surge that has drawn praise from Michael Malone for the way Murray has impacted both ends of the floor.
The uncomfortable part for the Nuggets is that this kind of start is usually supposed to lift a team into a better place than 6-4. Instead, Murrays level of play has only sharpened the reminder that Denver still needs more help around him if it wants to separate itself from the pack this season. He has done the heavy lifting so far, but the bigger question is whether enough of the roster can rise with him. [Read more 🡒]