Luka Dončić teaches Yaxel Lendeborg a lesson, but Warriors bail their rookie out in comeback win over Lakers

Lendeborg did not back up his Luka smack talk in the worst performance of his young career When Yaxel Lendeborg decided it would be a good idea to start a war of words with Luka Dončić during and after his first career NBA game, basically calling the Lakers superstar a flopping crybaby for whom he "lost all respect," both Stephen Curry and Steve Kerr had the same message for their brash rookie. Friday night was Lendeborg's chance to do just that when the Warriors hosted Dončić and the Lakers for the start of the NBA Cup's group stage. It did not, to put it politely, go well for Lendeborg, who laid down the worst track of his young career with six points, one rebound, zero assists and five turnovers.

Lendeborg got into early foul trouble and was never a factor on either end. For a guy who has injected so much juice into what looked like an old, disinterested, almost lifeless Warriors team when it faced these same Lakers on opening night, Lendeborg was all but invisible in finishing as a game-low minus-20 in his 24 minutes before fouling out. Meanwhile, Dončić — who was egging on the "Luka sucks!" chant coming from the Chase Center crowd early on — poured in 21 first-quarter points en route to 37 for