The Golden State Warriors opened the 2026-27 season with a 127-105 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at Crypto.com Arena. Afterward, Steve Kerr spent much of his postgame session on Yaxel Lendeborg’s debut against Luka Dončić. He also gave availability updates on Brandin Podziemski and Kristaps Porziņģis.
The game was close through one quarter, with the Lakers ahead 34-33. Los Angeles then outscored Golden State 32-19 in the second and 36-16 in the third, which put the Lakers up 102-68 going into the fourth.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 23 points on 7-of-15 shooting, 2-of-7 from three and 7-of-7 at the line. Twenty of those points came in the first half. Golden State shot 8-of-36 from three.
Kerr Blamed the Officials, Not His Rookie
Lendeborg, the No. 11 pick, guarded Dončić in his first NBA game and finished with 12 points, three rebounds, two assists and four personal fouls. He was a minus-21 in 28 minutes.
He picked up a technical late in the second quarter after jawing with Dončić, and Dončić then hit a half-court buzzer-beater to make it 66-52 at halftime.
Kerr said the technical should have been called on both players. “I thought the single technical (on Yaxel Lendeborg) was kind of ridiculous,” he said, per Danny Emerman of The San Francisco Standard. Kerr also said Lendeborg “got the rookie treatment” and added: “He bit on a pump fake, he got a couple that were tough calls, but he’s probably going to have to learn.”
On availability, Kerr said the Warriors are hopeful Podziemski (back) can play in the home opener, per ESPN’s Anthony Slater. Kerr had nothing new on Porziņģis, who the team has said will remain out indefinitely with a private health-related issue. “We don’t really know,” Kerr said.
The Warriors Asked a Rookie to Hold the Line
Golden State played without five players: Porziņģis, Podziemski, Jimmy Butler III, Moses Moody and Charles Bassey. Butler is recovering from right ACL surgery, and the team has not announced a return date.
That left two things to keep the Warriors in the game: a rookie defending the opponent’s best player and Curry carrying the scoring. Both stopped working at the same time. Lendeborg got into foul trouble and an argument, Curry scored three points after halftime, and the Lakers won the middle two quarters 68-35.
Kerr described the loss as a learning experience for Lendeborg. That is a reasonable reading of one game.
Still, with Porziņģis’ return undetermined and Butler recovering from surgery, this roster has little to fall back on while Lendeborg learns. Until the frontcourt is healthy, the Warriors’ margin will depend on how quickly he does.
Memphis Comes to Chase Center Friday
The Warriors host the Memphis Grizzlies in their home opener on Friday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. at Chase Center. Podziemski is listed as questionable.
Sources: Danny Emerman (The San Francisco Standard), Anthony Slater (ESPN)
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