Western Notes: Lendeborg, Pelicans Slide, Murray, Nuggets, Sabonis
With Stephen Curry sidelined, the Warriors are counting on rookie Yaxel Lendeborg to fill a chunk of the offensive void. It didn’t happen on Friday, as he made just one of 13 field goal tries against the Spurs. Lendeborg didn’t mince words after the 38-point loss, according to ESPN’s Anthony Slater.
“I was flustered the entire game,” Lendeborg said. “Couldn’t make a damn layup.”
Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama played a big role in the Warriors’ demise.
“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 says he won’t easily forget the loss. The Warriors don’t play again until Monday.
“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.”
Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- Earlier in the day, it was revealed that Dejounte Murray wanted to be traded. Then the Pelicans got clobbered by Memphis, 142-111, on Friday for their fifth straight loss. In the last four defeats, they have given up at least 138 points. Coach Jamahl Mosley told NOLA.com’s Isaac Constans he’s still trying to sort out 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.”
- Nuggets guard Jamal Murray is averaging 26.2 points, 5.9 assists and 5.0 rebounds while shooting 50.9 percent from the field. However, he told Bennett Durando of the Denver Post that the notion he’s playing the best ball of his career is off-base. “Not really, I’m not doing anything different, honestly,” he said. “Just playing my game.”
- A trio of Nuggets currently out of the rotation have been sent down the G League, Vinny Benedetto of the Denver Gazette tweets. DaRon Holmes, Cam Whitmore and Ryan Nembhard have been assigned to the Grand Rapids Gold.
- Don’t expect the Suns to have any interest in Kings center Domantas Sabonis, Phoenix radio reporter John Gambadoro tweets. Sabonis is making $45.5MM this year and $48.6MM next season before his contract expires and they already have two young centers, plus Mark Williams is expected to return from shoulder surgery around the All-Star break.