Warriors, told 'PASS TO STEPH' by Butler dressed as coach, win 8th straight by 51

• ESPN News Services

Nov 10, 2026, 12:54 AM ET

SAN FRANCISCO -- Stephen Curry scored 25 points in 20-plus minutes, Yaxel Lendeborg had 23 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and the Golden State Warriors won their eighth straight game by running away from the short-handed New Orleans Pelicans early for a 138-87 victory Monday night -- the largest win by any team this season.

It was the Warriors' fourth-largest win in franchise history, and the Pelicans' largest loss in team history.

Brandin Podziemski added 25 points, and Curry shot 6 for 10 with four 3-pointers after his 41-point performance in Saturday's 126-119 overtime win against Orlando. He passed DeMar DeRozan (26,800) for 16th place on the NBA's career scoring list with 26,803.

Golden State had three players with at least 20 points for the second time this season, and the Warriors finished with 30 or more assists -- 37 -- for the third straight game and fifth in the past six matchups. They are 6-0 when doing so.

Injured guard Jimmy Butler dressed up as a member of the coaching staff and held a clipboard, writing "PASS TO STEPH" on it.

Jimmy Butler III is wearing the same outfit as the @warriors coaches with his own clipboard 🤣📋 https://t.co/1FQn6XU9rz

— NBA (@NBA) November 10, 2026

As Warriors coach Steve Kerr later explained: "It was funny because I don't know how this happened but I told (assistant coach) Khalid (Robinson) about five minutes before the game, I told Khalid 'one of these days we should have Jimmy dress up like us,' 'cuz he's always got some great outfit on and something fashionable and we wear our quarter-zips and sweaters. I said, 'We should really get him to dress like a coach one day' and then he walks out and he's dressed like us. I turned to Khalid I said, 'Did you tell him to do that?' and he goes, 'No.' It was I guess mental telepathy or something. We're on the same page on that. He was enjoying himself."

As for what he made of Butler's coaching prospects, Kerr acknowledged, "He said all the right things, you know, team fouls, you know, how many team fouls we had, like he was really acting the part."

That being said, "I also realized he was mocking us" -- with Kerr later citing the "PASS TO STEPH" board that he didn't know about until after the game.

Lendeborg was also asked for his verdict on "Coach Jimmy" and did not hold back: "I didn't learn anything. All I learned was once you're on the court with Stephen Curry, give Stephen Curry the ball. That's all I learned. Bad coaching by him, man."

In a postgame interview with NBC Sports Bay Area, Lendeborg also noted that Butler "said he was going to get a tech for us tonight. He didn't, so ... shame on him."

Still, Lendeborg has appreciated Butler's wisdom while he recovers from surgery in February on his right knee for a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

"For me especially he's always just giving me little tips and tricks on the court," Lendeborg said.

It was the largest win by the Warriors since April 9, 2023, at Portland (+56), and Golden State's largest home win since Nov. 2, 1991, against the Kings (+62).

Derik Queen scored 16 points off the bench, and Dejounte Murray added 12 points for the Pelicans, who were out of the game almost from the tipoff and trailed 72-43 at halftime on the way to losing a third straight after a four-game winning streak.

Golden State led 35-20 after one quarter as New Orleans shot just 7 of 23 and missed 10 of 12 3-point tries. The Warriors built a 23-point lead early in the second quarter as Podziemski scored four quick points and rolled from there.

Charles Bassey contributed 12 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, and De'Anthony Melton scored 16 with four 3s in the win.

Lendeborg and Pelicans guard Jordan Poole, both former Michigan stars, traded jerseys afterward.

New Orleans rested Zion Williamson a night after a 139-123 road loss to the Clippers, and Trey Murphy III also sat out to manage his troublesome knees after he scored 26 in Los Angeles on Sunday.

The Warriors have won eight straight after starting 0-3, which is the second-longest win streak after an 0-3 (or worse) start to a season in NBA history. The 2006-07 Mavericks started 0-4 and then won 12 straight.

ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.