In a 26-Point Win, Lendeborg and Podziemski Did the Carrying
Golden State's 124-98 preseason win over the Lakers was lopsided from the opening minutes, but the box score's real signal was who actually produced it.
The Warriors broke the game open with four separate unanswered scoring runs, building a lead that reached 38 points, and finished with starters and bench almost even at 59 and 56 points. Yaxel Lendeborg and Brandin Podziemski, not Stephen Curry or Draymond Green, were the ones logging real minutes behind the best plus-minus numbers on the floor.
How It Got Away From the Lakers
The Warriors led 45-31 after one quarter and 81-53 at the half, scoring in bursts rather than in a steady climb. Four separate Warriors runs of eight to ten points, unanswered, built the separation: one in the first quarter, two in the second, one more in the fourth that pushed the margin past 38. Los Angeles, playing without Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler, never threatened a response until the benches had emptied, when its reserves closed on a 10-0 run in the final minute against Golden State's own deep bench.
A New Look Up Front
Kerr started Curry, Podziemski, Gui Santos, Lendeborg and Green, sliding Al Horford to the bench for the night. Horford will, in Kerr's own description, most likely open the regular season there too. Santos answered with 7 points on 2-of-3 shooting and a plus-13 mark in 21 minutes, exactly the kind of quiet, efficient game a replacement starter needs.
The Numbers That Actually Mattered
Curry's cameo was decisive: 16 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including 3 of 6 from three, for a plus-26 in just 14 minutes. But Lendeborg played a starter's workload, 21 minutes, and outproduced it, finishing with 17 points, 9 rebounds and a plus-21. Podziemski added 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting with a plus-12. Georges Niang, by contrast, needed 8 shots to score 7 points and was a non-factor in the flow of the game.
What It Changes
The preseason log now reads a loss at the Clippers followed by this win, though the record that matters, 0-0, does not move until the regular season opens at the Lakers on October 21. The more useful number from Sunday is the even split between starters and bench, 59 points to 56, a sign the depth Kerr has been auditing all preseason is already carrying real weight. Golden State gets one day off before testing that depth again, this time against a Portland team playing the second night of a back-to-back.
What was the final score of the Warriors-Lakers preseason game?
Golden State won 124-98, leading by as many as 38 points after building a 28-point halftime lead.
Who led the Warriors in the win over the Lakers?
Yaxel Lendeborg led with 17 points and 9 rebounds in 21 minutes, with Brandin Podziemski adding 16 points and Stephen Curry scoring 16 in just 14 minutes.
