Warriors get first win as perfect Curry and rookie Lendeborg's 31 sink Nuggets 134-114

The Golden State Warriors are off the mark. They routed the Denver Nuggets 134-114 on the road Monday for their first win of the season, and they did it with Steph Curry missing nothing and a rookie scoring more than anyone on the floor.

Curry went 8-for-8 for 24 points in a little over 26 minutes, according to Golden State Of Mind, the SB Nation site that covers the team. The odd part came first: he took one shot in 14 first-half minutes and spent the half moving the ball, and Golden State still led 60-56 at the break. Then he scored 17 points in the third quarter, most of them in a stretch of about seven and a half minutes that broke the game open.

It was only the second perfect shooting night of Curry's career, and the first came 15 years ago. As a second-year player in 2011 he went 5-for-5 for 14 points in a 102-89 win over the New Orleans Hornets. That makes Monday's 24 the most he has ever scored without a miss, done at 38 years old and in his 18th season.

The SB Nation write-up argued that the real story was everyone else, and the box score supports that. Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg had a career-high 31 points and 12 rebounds. Brandin Podziemski added 18, including an early basket off a long outlet pass from Curry, Gui Santos scored 13 and Al Horford had 11. Curry's line looks less like a one-man rescue and more like the closer on a night when the supporting cast had already kept the Warriors in front.

That matters for a team that opened 0-3. Golden State lost by 22 to the Lakers, by three at home to Memphis and by nine at Phoenix, and gave up 127, 111 and 131 points in those games. The offense has gone up every night, from 105 to 108 to 122 to 134. Monday was the first time the defense held up long enough for the offense to count.

What it means for Minnesota

The Warriors, now 1-3, finish the trip Wednesday at the Minnesota Timberwolves, a game streaming on NBA League Pass. Minnesota's situation is unsettled: Yahoo Sports this week asked how the Timberwolves stay in the West race without Anthony Edwards. The reporting reviewed here did not give details of his absence.

The market still sees Minnesota as the better team at home. On this site's board, which tracks 12 venues, the Timberwolves are favored at -156 on Novig, with Golden State at +150. On the spread Minnesota is a 3.5-point favorite. Novig prices the Wolves at -111, and BetRivers has the best number at -110. On the Warriors side Novig has +108 at +3.5, while the best price anywhere is Pinnacle's +4 at -105, which buys an extra half point for a lower payout. The total sits at 227.5 on Novig, -100 on the over and -104 on the under, and Hard Rock Bet is the outlier at 228.5. Sportsbook hold runs from 2.4% to 5.2% depending on the market, so the venues are close together.

Getting another 31 from Lendeborg is a lot to ask, and a second perfect night from Curry even more. The question in Minneapolis is whether the defense that showed up in Denver can show up again.