Golden State won the week by 54, all of it with Podziemski on the floor
Four wins after an 0-3 start, by a combined 54 points. Brandin Podziemski played 135 of the 192 minutes, more than any Warrior, and was plus-54.
Golden State won four games in seven days by a combined 54 points. Brandin Podziemski was on the floor for 135 of the 192 minutes and was plus-54.
The arithmetic leaves nothing for the other 57 minutes. With Podziemski on the bench, the Warriors and their opponents scored the same number of points.
Four games and 135 minutes is a small sample, and plus-minus is the noisiest number in a box score. It is also the number that matches what the rotation did, because Podziemski is the player Steve Kerr kept on the floor.
Who played the week#
| Player | Games | Minutes | Plus-minus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brandin Podziemski | 4 | 135 | +54 |
| Yaxel Lendeborg | 4 | 124 | +15 |
| Draymond Green | 3 | 91 | +27 |
| Stephen Curry | 3 | 90 | +36 |
| De'Anthony Melton | 4 | 88 | +32 |
| Georges Niang | 4 | 81 | +18 |
| Al Horford | 4 | 76 | +2 |
| Brandon Williams | 4 | 71 | +26 |
| Will Richard | 4 | 61 | +10 |
| Gui Santos | 3 | 53 | +35 |
ESPN box scores for October 26 at Denver, October 28 at Minnesota, October 30 against the Lakers and November 1 against the Clippers, summed and rounded to the minute. Curry and Green sat Sunday; Santos missed Minnesota with knee tendinitis.
Podziemski played 33, 32, 33 and 37 minutes. He and Lendeborg were the only Warriors to start all four. The 37 on Sunday came with Curry and Green both out, with Melton starting beside him, and the club still won by 12.
His line for the week was 64 points on 23 of 48 shooting, 25 assists, 25 rebounds and 4 turnovers. Warriors players were charged with 64 turnovers in the four games. He had four of them.
The two nights he missed#
The season so far splits cleanly on one name. With Podziemski, Golden State is 4-1. Without him, 0-2.
| Record | Games | |
|---|---|---|
| Podziemski played | 4-1 | Memphis, Denver, Minnesota, Lakers, Clippers |
| Podziemski did not | 0-2 | at Lakers October 21, at Phoenix October 24 |
He missed the opener with lower back soreness, Anthony Slater of ESPN reported, and sat at Phoenix with what ESPN's box score lists as lower back injury management. The one loss he played in was 111-108 to Memphis, when he played 33 minutes and finished even.
Two games is not a finding. Curry and Green also missed Phoenix, and each is 3-2 in games he played and 1-1 in games he did not. Charles Bassey, who missed the opener and Memphis, splits exactly the way Podziemski does, 4-1 and 0-2, and played 33 minutes all week. A two-game split cannot tell those two men apart.
The other half of the week#
The Warriors shot better, and that was not Podziemski's doing. They made 77 of 174 threes in the four wins, 44 percent, after 39 of 116 in the three losses. He was 9 of 24.
The defense moved the other way at the same time. Opponents made 50 of 152 threes in the four wins after 40 of 104 in the losses, and averaged 109 points after 123. Denver and Minnesota each scored 114. The Lakers scored 95.
The center minutes changed too. Graham Ike started two of the first three games and played 9 minutes in the four wins. Horford played between 17 and 22 off the bench every night, and Charles Bassey started Sunday and played 20.
Monday and the second night#
Phoenix comes to Chase Center on Monday at 7 p.m. Pacific, the second night of the back-to-back. ESPN's injury report lists Curry and Green as returning Monday. Gui Santos sat the second half on Sunday with knee tendinitis, Danny Emerman of the San Francisco Standard reported, and ESPN lists him day-to-day with a projected return Thursday against Miami. Podziemski is not on the report.
The last second night was at Phoenix, and he did not play it.
He has averaged 33.6 minutes in five games. He averaged 28.5 last season, when he played all 82.
The read: Podziemski averages 32 or more minutes in the November games he plays. That counts the 37 on Sunday and runs through the game at Chase Center on November 29. The case for it is that he has played at least 32 in all five of his games, four of them alongside Curry and Green. The case against is his own 2025-26 season, 28.5 a night across 82 games, and a calendar with a second night of a back-to-back on Monday and another at Memphis on November 19.
Sources: ESPN box scores for events 401909876 (October 26 at Denver), 401909888 (October 28 at Minnesota), 401909285 (October 30 against the Lakers) and 401909905 (November 1 against the Clippers) for minutes, plus-minus, starters, shooting, turnovers and the reasons listed for players who did not play; the weekly totals are sums of those four boxes. ESPN box scores for events 401909092 (October 21 at the Lakers), 401909850 (October 23 against Memphis) and 401909860 (October 24 at Phoenix) for the three losses. Podziemski's opener absence from Anthony Slater, ESPN, October 20, 2026. Santos's status from Danny Emerman, San Francisco Standard, as carried on ESPN's Warriors injury report, November 1, 2026, which also lists Curry's and Green's return date. Podziemski's season and 2025-26 averages from ESPN's player statistics. Schedule and tip time from ESPN's Warriors schedule.
