Yaxel Lendeborg keeps showing the summer league shooting binge was real.
After turning heads in Las Vegas with his work from deep, Lendeborg backed it up again Saturday night, drilling 6-of-11 from 3-point range and finishing with a career-high 26 points. It still wasn’t enough for the Golden State Warriors, who dropped a 131-122 decision to the Suns and fell to 0-3 to open the season.
The rookie forward’s scoring night came with plenty else attached. Lendeborg added nine rebounds and five assists, continuing a stretch that already included an 18-point, 13-rebound, six-assist, three-steal outing against the Memphis Grizzlies just 24 hours earlier. For a player who had questions hanging over his shooting coming out of the draft, he’s quickly looking like much more than a spot-up threat.
Golden State didn’t exactly have its regular rotation available to help him. The Warriors rested Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Brandin Podziemski and Al Horford, while Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody and Kristaps Porzingis were already out. Even so, the group on the floor kept the game competitive for most of the night before Devin Booker took control.
Booker torched the Warriors for 43 points, and the Suns piled up 45 in a high-scoring third quarter that swung the game. Golden State had some fight left, but not enough to slow the momentum once Phoenix got rolling.
De'Anthony Melton also found his rhythm after a quiet start to the season. He finished with 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting, hit 4-of-8 from deep and added five rebounds, five assists and three steals.
The Warriors got another useful night from Brandon Williams, who joined Lendeborg and Melton as a 20-point scorer. Williams also went to the free-throw line 11 times and knocked down 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.
There were more encouraging signs in the frontcourt, too. Rookie center Graham Ike recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds in his second straight start. Charles Bassey, back after missing the first two games with knee tendinitis, gave Golden State a lift off the bench with 10 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in 13 minutes.
It was a scheduled loss, but that doesn’t make the sting any smaller for a Warriors team that already watched Friday’s game against the Grizzlies slip away in the fourth quarter.
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