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Yaxel Lendeborg, LJ Cryer put on Las Vegas show in Warriors' summer league win vs.
Mavericks Dalton Johnson breaks down the Golden State Warriors' NBA Summer League win over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday in Las Vegas.
Watch Yaxel Lendeborgs score 21 points in the Golden State Warriors Golds 101-90 NBA Summer League win vs.
the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday.
Lendeborg had to be frothing when he saw the Warriors summer league schedule for Las Vegas.
First on his menu was a pair of Michigan teammates in Morez Johnson Jr.
and Aday Mara.
Lendeborg and the Warriors got the best of Johnson and the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night in a 101-90 win at the Thomas & Mack Center on UNLVs campus.Felt amazing.
Felt good to go out here against Rez and win, Lendeborg said to ESPN after the Warriors win.Felt good to go out here and beat Rez for all the times he did me dirty in practice.
This is what the Warriors saw in me my versatility.
Im trying my best to showcase that and more.
Thats what Im going to try and do the rest of summer league and the rest of my career here.Led by the trio of Lendeborg, Johnson and Mara, Michigan won the national championship last season.
Their coach, Dusty May, then accepted the Mavericks head-coaching job shortly before the 2026 NBA Draft.
The Mavs took Johnson No.
9, and Lendeborg and Mara followed him in near-consecutive order.
Known more for his defense, Johnson scored a game-high 27 points on 12-of-17 shooting to go with eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocked shots.But Lendeborg wasnt going to be outdone by his close friend.I tried to big-boy him, Lendeborg said to reporters when asked about facing Johnson.
It never worked in practice.
I dont know why I tried in a game, but it doesnt hurt to try.
I didnt move him at all.Pretty much ran into a brick wall, but it was super fun playing against him.
While Lendeborg praised Johnson, one of his best plays of the day came against him when he spun off the Big Ten All-Defensive recipient for a three-point play.
Lendeborg let him know about it, too.
that continues to stick out.His 3-point shot was a question mark going into the draft, and it looks like one of his best weapons after just three summer league games.
In those three games, Lendeborg has gone 9 of 13 from deep as a multifaceted scorer.
Passing has been another positive for Lendeborg, showing off his feel for the game and why he should be such an easy fit in coach Steve Kerrs system operating off split-action.scared of the next level.He has been able to bully his way to the basket, and though it will be an adjustment, he has the frame to do so against NBA veterans as well.The NBA is all about physicality, Lendeborg also said in his ESPN interview.
I still got to put on a little more pounds of muscle to learn how to use my strength a little more, but I definitely plan on playing even more physical than I have already.
The spotlight has been all over Lendeborg since the Warriors selected him.However, another one of his teammates also put on a show Monday against the Mavericks.
Summer league is a great opportunity for LJ Cryer to continue showing he belongs on the big squad.
Cryer went undrafted last year out of Houston, turned heads in summer league andfor the Warriors.
It was Cryer, not Lendeborg, who was the Warriors leading scorer to start their slate in Sin City.Cryer scored a team-high 25 points on 8-of-14 shooting and went 5 of 8 behind the 3-point line.
The 6-foot point guard also had six rebounds, four assists and was a plus-22.
After missing both of his shot attempts in the first quarter, Cryer exploded for 16 points in the second.
Over a six-minute stretch, Cryer went 5 of 6 from the field and 4 of 5 from long distance to give the Warriors a 20-point lead at halftime.Obviously LJs shot making was great, but it was just his decision making, Warriors summer league coach Khalid Robinson said to reporters.
He picked his spots really well when to get to the rim, when to pull up, when to kick out to his teammates.
He read the pictures really well, and then he had a good level of physicality defensively.When the Mavs made it a three-point game with a little more than three minutes remaining, Cryer made sure a comeback wasnt going to be completed.
Cryer was signed by the Warriors to a two-way contract on Dec.
2.
He played 18 games for the Warriors and shot 39.4 percent on 5.2 3-point attempts per game.
Cryer made multiple threes in 11 of the 18 games he played.Look past his height.
Cryer is the microwave scorer the Warriors desperately need.
He just has to stay healthy and erase past problems with his hamstring and ankle.
The 24-year-old who will turn 25 ahead of the regular season should be back on a two-way contract at the least, with a real chance to compete for a spot on the 15-man roster.Lendeborg, Cryer and the rest of the summer Warriors play again Sunday at 3 p.m.
PT against Mara and the Oklahoma City Thunder.