The Warriors went into survival mode the minute it was announced that Stephen Curry would miss at least the next two weeks, and perhaps more, with an oblique tear. And in their first test, Curry's absence was felt in a major way as the Spurs put a 38-point beating on them on Friday night.
This was never going to end well. The Warriors would have been heavy underdogs in this game even had Curry played. But the Warriors were hoping to at least stay in the fight for a little while. Instead, they were the Michael Spinks to San Antonio's Mike Tyson as the Spurs scored the first 18 points of the game and never looked back.
Yaxel Lendeborg didn't show up
There are a few core things that need to happen for the Warriors to stay competitive while Curry is out, and it starts with Yaxel Lendeborg assuming full-time alpha status and producing like an All-Star with the defense now primarily focused on him.
It's a lot to ask of a rookie, but he's set the bar so high to start his career that he's proven capable. He's putting up north of 20 points per game on super efficient shooting through his first 12 games.
- Entering Friday night, he had scored at least 23 points in three straight games.
- In a victory over the Clippers two weeks ago, he had 37 in a game that Curry missed.
- On Wednesday, when Curry only played six minutes before getting hurt, he put 25 and 10 on the Rockets to keep the Warriors competitive against a top-tier opponent with physical defenders to challenge his comfort in attacking smaller matchups.
Could he possibly do it again against the Spurs? The answer was an emphatic no. Lendeborg had three points on 1-of-13 shooting, and afterward he was beating himself up worse than the Spurs did.
"We just got the s--t beat out of us," Lendeborg said. "I was flustered the entire game. I couldn't make a damn layup. I don't even know, man. ... I'm not going to move past this. Everybody is saying throw it out the window. I can't throw a damn thing out the window. We just lost by like a hundred. I'm f--ked up mentally right now.
"It was an awful performance by me," Lendeborg continued. "I let everybody on this team down. I'm not gonna forget this ever. I don't remember the last time I got beat [like this] the whole entire game, with no hope at all. It felt helpless out there."
Helpless. It's a strong word, but appropriate on this night. Welcome to life without the greatest shooter and one of the greatest scorers to ever live commanding all the defensive attention and still putting up 30 a night.
Lendeborg's unfiltered commentary is refreshingly raw. He says exactly what is on his mind, and certainly you'd rather have a player be hard on himself after a performance like this than a guy who doesn't care. But it was, in the end, one game against probably the best team with the best player in the world.
Lendeborg will be fine. If you're thinking he got exposed in this game, save it. This dude is for real. He'll discard this and get right for New Orleans on Monday, because at 8-5 the Warriors are still in good shape. They can't let this spiral and suddenly the next few weeks are undoing all the good work they did to start the season.
Bad night for Brandin Podziemski
Steve Kerr started small against Victor Wembanyama, inserting De'Anthony Melton and Will Richard into the first five with Draymond Green at center. Bold move. The only way that can work is to run and gun, and Brandin Podziemski needed to be at the forefront of that attack. He wasn't.
Podziemski, who has been terrific to start the season, averaging nearly 17 points per game and hitting 2.8 3-pointers a night at a 40% clip, finished with eight points on 2-of-10 shooting in San Antonio. Do the math, and Podziemski and Lendeborg, the Warriors' top two offensive options in Curry's absence, combined to miss 20 of 23 shots.
There's some reason for hope with this duo as this Curry-less stretch continues. This season, they have led the Warriors to a +2.6 net rating in their minutes without Curry, via Databallr. It's a very different story doing it without Curry for a few minutes while he rests on the bench, versus doing it for full games. But there's no time for learning curves here. This duo probably needs to score 40 points and create closer to 60 without Curry.
The schedule ahead
The Warriors need to win in New Orleans on Monday. The Pelicans are kind of a mess right now, and Golden State getting to 9-5 would go a long way toward at least allowing Curry to return to a .500 team. After facing the Pelicans, the Warriors play the Mavericks and Grizzlies on a back-to-back, and then the Celtics in their first game back home. It's a hard stretch.
After that, it's the Kings on Nov. 25, which will be the two-week mark of Curry's timeline. The Warriors will cross their fingers that he can come back after that game, and in that case, even if they only beat the Pelicans and Kings over this stretch, they would still be 10-8 upon Curry's return.
Even if Curry ends up missing an extra week or so, two of the Warriors' three games following the Kings matchup come against the 3-8 Clippers (who they have already beaten without Curry) and the 1-12 Jazz. They can still come out of this OK.