Overview
- Stephen Curry suffered an oblique tear Wednesday and an MRI confirmed he will be reevaluated in two weeks with an expected absence of about a month.
- Coaches have elevated 24-year-old rookie Yaxel Lendeborg into the team's primary on-court role after he averaged roughly 21.7 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists in the early season.
- Lendeborg scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against the Rockets and earlier posted a 37-point game and a 31-point, 12-rebound, 6-assist outing, forcing Golden State to lean on him for offense.
- Kevin Durant publicly praised Lendeborg after their matchup and reportedly left a signed jersey in the rookie's locker, and teammates and media voices have urged the Warriors to give him a bigger role.
- The main questions for Golden State are Lendeborg's weak-side defensive reads and turnover control, and those fixes will likely decide whether the team sustains its early success without Curry.