The Golden State Warriors came back from a 20-point deficit to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 101-88 in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
If we're keeping it real, the Warriors being down 70-50 at one point (with Luka Doncic not playing) is more discouraging than the comeback is encouraging.
With that in mind, I have more negative takeaways about the Dubs than positive from this game.
But once again, Yaxel Lendeborg was among Golden State's biggest positives.
Yaxel Passes Kessler Test
Lendeborg came into Tuesday's game having not played an elite NBA rim protector this preseason. He got his first taste of it against Walker Kessler.
Lendeborg had three drives in particular with Kessler in the area, and the result of them were 1) a left-handed layup, 2) a Kessler block and 3) a Kessler foul.
Above all, I wanted to see Lendeborg stay aggressive despite knowing the 7'2" Lakers center was lurking, and he did just that, even after Kessler's outrageous rejection on his reverse layup attempt.
In all, Lendeborg had 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting and 6-of-9 from the free-throw line. We'll get into his defense in a subhead below, but he made play after play offensively to get the Warriors back in the game with a 14-0 third-quarter run.
On a night when the Warriors once again had 20 turnovers, Lendeborg took care of the ball with four assists to just one giveaway.
I don't think there's any doubt that he was the Warriors' best offensive player Tuesday. His offense being this advanced is a big development for a team that needs more offensive dynamism.
Warriors Felt Dray's Absence on Both Ends
The first 21 minutes of this game were a perfect encapsulation of how much the Warriors need Draymond Green.
At the moment, the Lakers had a 70-50 lead. They were getting whatever they wanted on offense, and on the other end, Stephen Curry was struggling to run actions with Charles Bassey that would normally be plays with Green.
Lendeborg had major issues defensively. He allowed Reaves to drive past him for layups a few times due to a combination of poor technique and being hesistant to commit to Reaves because there was a Laker rolling to the basket (he was trying to prevent the pass more than staying in front of Reaves).
Steve Kerr has said he might have to play Lendeborg at center "out of necessity," but Tuesday's game shows why that's not a good idea.
The Warriors' best lineups will have Green at center. Whether the 36-year-old can stay healthy and energized while battling against players much bigger than him is a potential problem the Dubs might have to stress test.
It might be their only way to stay afloat in the first half of the season.
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