Charles Barkley is loving Warriors HC Steve Kerr’s Yaxel Lendeborg approach

Charles Barkley is loving Warriors HC Steve Kerr’s Yaxel Lendeborg approach appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here . Wednesday night did not go according to plan for the Golden State Warriors . They lost Stephen Curry early in their clash against the Houston Rockets due to an abdominal injury , putting the Dubs in such a difficult spot against one of the best teams in the association. They then went down by double digits in the first half against the Rockets, so they needed someone to step up and lead the way on offense — with rookie forward Yaxel Lendeborg accepting that responsibility. Lendeborg recorded 18 points, eight rebounds, and two steals in the first half alone as the Warriors clawed back and cut the deficit to just five points at the halftime interval. He also showed off his entire offensive arsenal. He was unafraid to get to the rim, he was comfortable facing up from the post, and he even drilled a pull-up triple right in Alperen Sengun’s grill. Watch sports LIVE with fuboTV (free trial) And while Lendeborg and the Warriors would lose steam en route to a 115-108 loss to the Rockets to snap their eight-game win streak, Charles Barkley gave praise to head coach Steve Kerr for the way he’s enabled Lendeborg’s strong play. “Yaxel is playing with tremendous confidence. Shout out to Steve Kerr for giving him the ability,” Barkley said on Inside the NBA on ESPN. “He’s got reckless abandon. Steve Kerr has got a lot of faith in this kid. Shout out to Yaxel for playing with confidence.” Lendeborg could not sustain his hot performance in the second half, as the Rockets devoted more defensive attention to him. He scored just seven in the second half to finish with 25 on the night, although he did lead all scorers on the night with that points total. It’s not quite clear how long Curry’s absence is going to be, and if he’ll need to miss their next game, which will be a huge contest against the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Cup on Friday. Lendeborg has to keep on playing with this kind of fire as he might be tasked to be the Dubs’ go-to-guy yet again . Related: Warriors’ Charles Bassey calls out Marcus Smart’s ‘fake toughness’ after altercation Related: Draymond Green gets 2 fans ejected in 4th quarter of Warriors-Rockets