Warriors survive Orlando in overtime as Curry, Lendeborg fuel winning streak

SAN FRANCISCO — Stephen Curry and Draymond Green weren't particularly thrilled when Steve Kerr told them they would start overtime on the bench.

The two veterans had just watched Golden State cough up a 16-point halftime lead against an undermanned Orlando Magic team. Curry had spent the final minutes of regulation performing his usual assortment of basketball miracles, only for the Warriors to surrender another offensive rebound and a game-tying putback.

Now, with five more minutes to settle things, Steve Kerr was asking his two most accomplished players to take a seat.

They weren't happy about it. But the Warriors didn't fall apart.

Charles Bassey scored the first four points of overtime. Brandon Williams helped keep the offense moving. And when Curry and Green returned, rookie Yaxel Lendeborg knocked down a huge 3-pointer before Curry finished the job.

The Warriors escaped with a 126-119 victory Saturday at Chase Center, their seventh consecutive win after opening the season with three straight losses.

It wasn't pretty. It wasn't particularly convincing for long stretches. And it certainly wasn't the kind of performance Kerr will want to see repeated.

But it was another victory, and another reminder that something has changed around this team.

Curry, of course, remains the main attraction. At 38 years old, in his 18th NBA season, he scored 41 points on 13-of-19 shooting, including five 3-pointers, and added six rebounds and six assists.

He scored Golden State's final 12 points of regulation, answering virtually everything Orlando threw at him. There were two late 3-pointers, a driving layup through traffic and a ridiculous bank shot with 25.2 seconds remaining that gave the Warriors a 110-108 lead.

That should have been enough.

Instead, Orlando got three cracks at the basket on its final possession before Jamal Cain scored on a putback with 1.5 seconds left to force overtime.

Curry eventually put Golden State ahead for good with a three-point play at the 1:38 mark of the extra period and added another basket in the final minute.

It was vintage Curry, the kind of performance that has become so commonplace over the last decade that it's easy to forget how extraordinary it really is.

His 16th 40-point game since turning 35 also moved him past LeBron James for the most in NBA history.

"It never gets old," Green said afterward.

No, it doesn't.

But the more interesting story surrounding the Warriors these days isn't that Curry can still do this. It's what's happening around him.

For much of the past few seasons, Golden State has looked like a team trying desperately to extend an era that was running out of road. The veterans were getting older, the roster felt increasingly limited, and too many nights depended on Curry doing something spectacular just to keep the Warriors competitive.

That feeling was especially pronounced after this season's 0-3 start.

Jimmy Butler was sidelined, Kristaps Porzingis wasn't available, and Moses Moody was recovering from surgery. There wasn't much reason to believe a roster already carrying plenty of miles had suddenly discovered a new gear.

Then came Lendeborg.

The 24-year-old rookie has given the Warriors something they have lacked for a while: a young, athletic, fearless player capable of creating his own offense, handling the ball and making life uncomfortable for opposing defenses.

He hasn't been perfect. Far from it.

Against Orlando, Lendeborg committed six turnovers and struggled to find an offensive rhythm through three quarters. He had just seven points entering the fourth.

Then he took over stretches of the game.

Lendeborg scored nine points in the fourth quarter without missing a shot, added seven more in overtime and finished with 23 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.

He attacked the rim, defended Franz Wagner and made the sort of aggressive plays that can inject life into an entire lineup. His overtime 3-pointer gave Golden State a five-point advantage, and his dunk with 11 seconds remaining helped finally put Orlando away.

Perhaps most encouraging was that Lendeborg never seemed particularly concerned about his rough start.

Curry has noticed that quality in the rookie, saying afterward that Lendeborg doesn't dial back his aggression when things aren't going his way.

That's not a small thing for this roster.

For years, the Warriors have searched for young players who could contribute alongside Curry and Green without becoming overwhelmed by their presence. Some struggled with the system. Others never found consistent roles. The tension between developing young talent and chasing another championship was practically a permanent storyline.

Lendeborg doesn't appear interested in waiting his turn.

He's already scored 31 points against Denver and 37 against the Clippers. And increasingly, Kerr has been comfortable putting the ball in his hands with Curry on the bench.

It changes the complexion of the Warriors' offense. More importantly, it gives Curry a chance to play alongside someone who can shoulder some of the burden rather than simply benefit from the attention he attracts.

The depth has been another pleasant surprise.

Brandin Podziemski scored 15 points Saturday and made four 3-pointers. Georges Niang added 11, continuing to provide toughness and shooting off the bench. Green had a season-high 13 assists, while Bassey's contributions in overtime were another example of a reserve answering the call.

There is some genuine energy around this group, the kind that defined the Warriors during the early years of their dynasty when the bench wasn't just there to survive Curry's minutes.

Of course, Saturday also provided plenty of evidence that this is still a work in progress.

The Magic were missing Paolo Banchero, Jalen Suggs and Desmond Bane, yet nearly stole a game in which they trailed 57-41 at halftime.

Orlando grabbed 24 offensive rebounds to Golden State's three, held a staggering 33-2 advantage in second-chance points and attempted 33 more shots than the Warriors.

Read those numbers again.

The Warriors won a game in which their opponent took 33 more shots.

That's a difficult trick to pull off once, much less something a team should expect to get away with regularly.

Golden State also committed 19 turnovers and was outscored 37-20 in a dreadful third quarter, turning what appeared to be a comfortable victory into a frantic finish.

"Our third quarter was just chaos," Kerr said.

He wasn't exaggerating.

Franz Wagner finished with 30 points and 11 assists, Tristan da Silva scored 19, and Cain contributed 18 points and 12 rebounds off the bench. Orlando played harder for long stretches, attacked the glass relentlessly and repeatedly punished Golden State's careless decisions.

Against a healthier, more talented opponent, the Warriors might not have survived.

That's the reality Kerr and his staff will have to address.

But there's another reality taking shape, too.

The Warriors are 7-3, with their longest winning streak since March 2025. They've won games with Curry carrying the offense and games with the reserves doing much of the heavy lifting. They've won comfortably and they've survived ugly ones.

They've also done it while incorporating new faces, experimenting with rotations and playing without several key pieces.

"We don't forget where people thought we were at the beginning of the year," Curry said afterward.

It's a revealing comment from someone who has seen just about everything during his time in Golden State.

Curry has been around long enough to know the difference between a promising November and a championship-caliber team. Seven wins in a row don't erase the concerns about age, size, turnovers or the increasingly unforgiving Western Conference.

There will be rough nights ahead. Probably plenty of them.

But the Warriors don't look like a team waiting for the inevitable anymore.

Lendeborg has brought some youthful audacity to a group that badly needed it. The bench is playing with confidence. Green looks energized by the pieces around him. And Curry, somehow, remains capable of taking over games whenever necessary.

The most encouraging part of Saturday's win might have come during those opening moments of overtime, with Curry and Green watching from the bench as their teammates built a lead.

Not because the Warriors no longer need their two longtime stars.

They absolutely do.

But for the first time in a while, it feels like those stars have a little more help — and perhaps a few more possibilities than anyone expected when the season began 0-3.

Ten games don't define a season.

They can, however, change its direction.

And right now, the Warriors seem to be heading somewhere much more interesting than they were two weeks ago.