Yaxel Lendeborg’s room for improvement evident vs. Thunder – NBC Sports Bay Area & California
LAS VEGAS – Once again, Yaxel Lendeborg got the best of a former Michigan teammate in his second game during the Las Vegas NBA Summer League.
After beating Morez Johnson and the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, Lendeborg got bragging rights with the Warriors’ 104-79 win over Aday Mara and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday at the Thomas & Mack Center on UNLV’s campus.
Lendeborg scored a game-high 14 points, and also had two rebounds, four assists and three steals as a plus-14. Mara scored 10 points and added nine rebounds as a minus-8.
The Warriors improved to 2-0 in Las Vegas and 4-1 overall this summer. Sunday’s win was far from beautiful basketball, though.
On paper, the Warriors won in nearly every category. They shot 44.2 percent from the field, just better than the Thunder’s 44.1 percent while taking nine more shots than OKC and making four more. The Warriors went 15 of 41 from 3-point range (36.6 percent), which was much better than the Thunder going 8 of 30 (26.7 percent).
The Warriors also tallied 19 more rebounds than the Thunder (45 to 26), six more assists (23 to 17) and seven more steals (10 to 3), plus three fewer turnovers (13 to 10).
“Everyone that came in the game executed the game plan pretty well,” Warriors coach Khalid Robinson said.
Lendeborg started the game slowly in the first quarter before finding his shot during a nine-point second quarter, where he drained three 3-pointers, including one over Mara.
His celebration alone shows what kind of fun personality Lendeborg brings to the court. Lendeborg’s favorite moment of the game might have come in the third quarter when he beat Mara on a jump ball. When it landed in the Warriors’ hands, Lendeborg gave a fist bump and yelled “yes!” with a giant grin across his face.
Offensively, Lendeborg was 5 of 14 from the field and 4 of 8 beyond the arc. His hot 3-point shooting continued. An array of skills with the ball in his hands continues to shine, too.
Defensively, however, Lendeborg continues to be a mixed bag. Yes, he came away with three steals, but that doesn’t show his lapses. Lendeborg has been drifting and spectating on defense. Once he’s playing strictly against NBA players, those bad habits will have to leave him.
“It’s an area where you got to continue to grow,” Robinson said. “We talk about just being locked in at all times defensively, on and off the ball. It’s a level of awareness that you have to have as a defender at this level and he’s going to continue to grow at that.”
Lendeborg himself has admitted he isn’t in the best shape right after trying to be off his feet as much as he could following Michigan’s national championship run. He dealt with a sprained MCL and a rolled ankle but continued to play through pain.
Every rep and every game is a learning lesson for Lendeborg and the rest of his Warriors teammates. The spotlight is brightest on him as the Warriors’ top draft pick. The positives continue to be eye-opening. The negatives are issues the Warriors aren’t worried about at all in the long run.
The Warriors play next on Tuesday against the Memphis Grizzlies at 4 p.m. PT.
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