The Los Angeles Lakers blew out the Golden State Warriors 127-105 in their season opener on Wednesday night. Making matters worse for the Dubs, rookie Yaxel Lendeborg got in trouble with officials during the game.
Golden State had no answer for the Lakers’ trio of Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler. Doncic led the way for L.A. with 28 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals, while Reaves added 23 points, four boards and six dimes.
Kessler, for his part, finished with 26 points, nine rebounds and two blocks.
On the other hand, Steph Curry was the only Warrior to score more than 20 points, tallying 23 points, along with two rebounds and two steals.
Meanwhile, Lendeborg finished with 12 points and three rebounds in his first official NBA game. He did a good job guarding Doncic, who shot 1-of-6 from the field with him as the primary defender.
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However, it wasn’t all positive for Lendeborg in his matchup with Doncic. After repeatedly trash-talking his opponent, the Warriors youngster was assessed a technical foul late in the second quarter.
After Lendeborg forced Doncic to miss on a step-back 3-pointer, he kept talking trash to the Lakers star as they were heading back to the other side of the court. A referee saw the interaction and called a tech on the rookie.
As a result of the call, Lendeborg is now set to pay a fine to the NBA. The league’s rules state that a player’s first five technical fouls each carry a $2,000 fine.
With 81 games left to play on the season, Lendeborg will certainly need to be more careful about talking trash to opponents. After all, once a player reaches 16 technical fouls, they receive a one-game suspension along with a $5,000 fine.
