The Warriors have lost a game by 35+ points for the first time since January 2, 2026, when the Thunder blew them out 131-94. It’s Yaxel Lendeborg’s first career loss by a margin of 35 points or more, and he isn’t going to forget it anytime soon.
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Following the Warriors’ 123-85 loss against the Spurs on November 13, Lendeborg seemed disconsolate. When asked how he’ll move past this loss, Yaxel said that he won’t be able to.
“I’m not going to move past this. I don’t know about the rest of us,” Lendeborg said while speaking to reporters. “Everybody saying ‘throw it out the window’ – I can’t throw a damn thing out the window. We just lost by like 100. I’m f**ked up mentally right now.”
The Warriors’ first full game after Stephen Curry’s worrying Oblique injury has dampened the rookie’s confidence. While Lendeborg showed a doubtful mindset after Curry’s injury, this may have made it worse.
Lendeborg, who has flourished this season, scoring 20 points or more in 7 games, struggled against the Spurs. He finished with 3 points and 7 rebounds on 1-13 shooting. It was just his second career game scoring in single digits and his first game ever scoring less than 5 points.
While shocked by the loss, Lendeborg is also looking towards the future and how the Warriors can come back from this.
“We got a game in two days, they said, I think. So, we’ll see how we can bounce back in that game.”
However, Lendeborg’s frustration went beyond the final score. The rookie admitted that he was flustered almost immediately and struggled to recover after missing his first few attempts.
“First shot, in and out. I’m like, ‘Yep, it’s gonna be a bad day.’ Next shot, I don’t know what it was, I think I airballed a floater or something like that,” he explained.
Lendeborg also acknowledged that Victor Wembanyama’s presence around the rim affected the Warriors’ offensive approach. Golden State struggled to attack the paint, with the rookie admitting that the team became hesitant because of the Spurs center’s shot-blocking ability.
“I just wasn’t being aggressive. Like, he’s skinnier than me, and I just got to go put an elbow on his chest and jump into his body or something. Like, if he blocks it, he blocks it,” Lendeborg said. “All of us were kind of scared in a way.”
The numbers reflected just how difficult the night was for Golden State. San Antonio opened the game with an 18-0 run, held a 38-14 advantage after the first quarter and eventually built a 43-point lead. Stephon Castle led the Spurs with 32 points, while L.J. Cryer was the Warriors’ leading scorer with 20.
For Lendeborg, however, the immediate challenge is putting this performance behind him without forgetting what went wrong. With Curry expected to miss additional time, Golden State needs its rookie to rediscover the confidence and aggression that made him such an important part of the team’s early-season success.
His next opportunity against New Orleans will offer an early indication of how he responds to arguably the toughest night of his young NBA career.