Warriors First Win: Curry Perfect, Rookie Drops 31

The Warriors first win of the 2026-27 season finally landed on Monday night in Denver, and it came with a perfect shooting night from Stephen Curry and a breakout from rookie Yaxel Lendeborg. Golden State beat the Nuggets one hundred thirty-four to one hundred fourteen at Ball Arena, according to the Associated Press report on CBS San Francisco. The result kept the team from its first zero-and-four start since 2007-08.

A rough start that had Dub Nation sweating

Before this game, the Warriors were zero and three after losses to the Lakers, the Grizzlies and the Suns. Head coach Steve Kerr had already shuffled his starting five three times, and Monday brought a fourth different lineup in four games. Curry, Draymond Green and Brandin Podziemski had all sat out the Phoenix game, so the early season felt scrambled and a little cursed.

The Mercury News noted that Curry is thirty-eight years old with a long mileage count on his right knee, and that the roster around him is no longer awe-inspiring. That context made a clean, comfortable road win feel bigger than a normal early-season game. For fans scrolling their timelines in a mild panic, this was the exhale they needed.

Curry waits, then flips the switch

The wildest part of the night was how quiet Curry was early. He did not attempt a shot in the first quarter and finished the first half with a single made three-pointer, even though Golden State led sixty to fifty-six at the break. Then the third quarter happened.

According to the Warriors' official game recap, Curry went six for six from the field and three for three at the free throw line in that frame, scoring seventeen points in eight minutes. He ended the night eight for eight from the floor, three for three from deep and five for five at the line, for twenty-four points. The team notes it is only the second time in his career he has finished a game without missing an attempt, with the other coming against the Hornets in February of 2011.

Curry explained the patient approach afterward. "We made a slight adjustment on our playcalls, but I just stayed locked in to the flow of the game," he said, as quoted by the Mercury News. "You have to see how the defense is guarding you and not force things." Twenty-one of his twenty-four points came after halftime.

Lendeborg is the story nobody expected this soon

Lendeborg, the twenty-four-year-old rookie out of Michigan and the eleventh overall pick in the 2026 draft, led all scorers with thirty-one points and twelve rebounds. He added six assists and drew fouls all night, going to the line often and making almost every attempt. The Mercury News reported he got there by bullying his way to the rim rather than leaning on the three-point shot, including a slick layup after splitting a double-team as a pick-and-roll ballhandler.

The franchise history lines are wild. The Warriors say he is the first Golden State rookie to put up at least thirty-one points and twelve rebounds in a game since Eric Paschall in November of 2019. He also has two double-doubles in his first four career games, something only a short list of Warriors legends has done, including Rick Barry and Wilt Chamberlain.

Role players and the glass did the dirty work

Podziemski returned to the starting lineup and scored eighteen points with seven rebounds, finishing a team-best plus thirty-three. Draymond Green handed out seven assists and spent plenty of time guarding Nikola Jokic, turning each post-up into a wrestling match, per the Mercury News. Georges Niang also hit three of his seven three-point tries after missing his first twelve of the year.

As a team, Golden State shot just over fifty-four percent from the field and hit twenty-two of forty-four from three-point range. They also out-rebounded Denver fifty to thirty-six, including a big pile of offensive boards early in the third quarter. That kind of hustle was missing in the first three losses.

Denver's night went sideways

Jokic finished with nineteen points, seven rebounds and eleven assists before sitting with the Nuggets down twenty-one. Denver gave up seventy-four points after halftime, and some fans left early. Aaron Gordon was hit with a double technical in the fourth quarter and exited the game.

The Nuggets were also short-handed, missing Alpha Diallo, Cameron Johnson, Spencer Jones and Julian Strawther. Jokic had scolded fans for booing during Saturday's home opener, so the early exits only added to a rocky start to the year in Denver. DeMar DeRozan led Denver with twenty-one points.

What comes next for Golden State

The Warriors are now one and three and wrap up their three-game road trip in Minneapolis against the Timberwolves on Wednesday, October twenty-eighth. They then head home to host the Lakers at Chase Center on Friday, October thirtieth, a rematch of one of the losses that started the slide. One game does not fix a season, but it does show what the best version of this team looks like.

The big question is whether Curry keeps hunting his shot earlier and whether Lendeborg keeps cooking against tougher defenses. If both happen, the Warriors first win could look like the start of a turnaround instead of a one-night blip. For more scores and stories, check out our sports coverage.