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After the Warriors' win over Phoenix on Monday, their fifth straight (something they never managed last season), Stephen Curry was asked what about this year's squad feels different from the one that finished with 37 wins a year ago.
"I mean, Yax," Curry laughed, stating the obvious when it comes to the historic start of Warriors' rookie Yaxel Lendeborg. "BP [Brandin Podziemski] taking another step forward. B-Will [Brandon Williams] has been great for us off the bench, giving us something we haven't had in a while. We've had some individual production that's been pretty cool, some standout guys who've made their presence felt night after night.
"But I think collectively," Curry continued, "we're probably a little bit more prepared on the details of what we're trying to do, and not just taking for granted that you can just play like the Warriors of old and expect good things to happen."
Curry didn't elaborate on these "details" on which the Warriors are more focused this season, but it looks about the same on the statistical surface. They're playing at the same pace. Making the same amount of 3s. They're still a high-turnover offense. They remain small, collectively old and not particularly athletic. They own a nearly identical 114-ish defensive rating, which at the moment has them ranked as a bottom-10 unit. Their spot-up, pick-and-roll, transition and isolation frequencies are all pretty much the same, per Synergy.
Which is to say, the Warriors are, in fact, playing like the Warriors. They look so good, that they've jumped 15 spots this week into the top 10 of our weekly NBA Power Rankings. Let's break down three reasons why.
Anyone who says they can see slippage in Curry's game must be looking through one hell of a high-powered microscope. He's scoring more than a point a minute (30 PPG in 28.8 MPG). The only other player doing that, with at least 100 minutes played, is Luka Dončić.
Get this: According to Cleaning the Glass, the 137.4 points that Curry is currently scoring per 100 shot attempts registers as a career high. He's taking more than 10 3-pointers a night and connecting at a 43% clip. On Monday, he finally missed a free throw after making 51 straight to start the year.
So yeah, Curry is still Curry. The difference is, he's got a real co-star again (remember, this team was tracking toward a conference finals trip when Jimmy Butler first came over) in the form a 24-year-old rookie.
Even knowing Curry's greatness, just about everyone pegged Golden State as a lottery team this year. They may still end up there, but at the moment Lendeborg has completely revived a team that we had all left for dead. He's the only rookie in history other than Larry Bird to post at least 100 points, 40 rebounds and 20 assists through his first five games. He's just the third player in Warriors history to average north of 20 PPG (22.3) over his first seven games of his career, joining Wilt Chamberlain and Rick Barry. In the win over the Clippers on Sunday, he became the fourth rookie in history log a game with at least 37 points and five assists on 85% true shooting.
Lendeborg is tracking toward Rookie of the Year and honest All-Star consideration. He has given the Warriors a legit first option without Curry on the court, and, in tandem, he massively eases Curry's burden as a creator. The guy is already a pick-and-roll machine and, at the moment, the most efficient isolation scorer in the league.
For some reason Podziemski has become a punching bag for a lot of Warriors fans, but he's been a winning player from day one (just go look at his on/off splits dating back to his rookie year). With Butler out, and until Lendeborg came along, Podziemski was the only Warrior other than Curry who could generate real paint pressure.
This season, Podziemski is putting it all together to the tune of a career-high 17 points, five assists and five boards per game. Once again, the splits tell the tale: The Warriors have outscored opponents by 50 points with Podziemski on the floor so far this year, by far the team high.
Suddenly the Warriors have three to four guys on any given night who can break a defense down, and with that you're seeing these support-staff guys like Georges Niang, Gui Santos, De'Anthony Melton, Gary Payton II, Will Richard, Al Horford, and even Charles Bassey (who has gone from taking DNPs to putting up 25 points and 18 boards over the last two games) to ride shotgun on a top-five offense.
And now for the rest of the Power Rankings:
Biggest Movers
Rk |
Teams |
Chg |
Rcrd |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rockets | Tied for the best record and best net rating in the league, the Rockets are averaging four more total points, four more fast-break points and three more assists per game than they did last year. The pace and ball sharing are really up. Everyone is benefitting. | -- | 7-1 |
| 2 | 76ers | Philly has overcome four double-digit deficits to win games so far. It's not ideal, but this team continues to flip a defensive and transition switch when it needs to, and Tyrese Maxey is a top-shelf MVP candidate. | 3 | 7-1 |
| 3 | Spurs | Victor Wembanyama is taking nearly three more shots per game in the paint this year than he did last, and a career-high 46% of his attempts are coming at the rim, per Cleaning the Glass. The 4.9 dunks per game he's currently averaging puts him on pace for 402 yams this season, which would shatter Rudy Gobert's NBA record of 306. He is establishing lower lob positions and foregoing more settle 3s for show-and-go drives. Once the soft-spot mid-rangers and 3s start going in, this Spurs team (that has won five straight after an 0-2 start) is really going to take off. | 6 | 5-2 |
| 4 | Pistons | Cade Cunningham has played MVP ball, and the 6-1 Pistons are still the best defense in the league while making three more 3-pointers per game than they did last year. Jalen Duren is close to returning. | 1 | 6-1 |
| 5 | Celtics | Paul George has been slightly better statistically than Jaylen Brown to the start the year. The Celtics are right on schedule and Jayson Tatum, though he's been great all over the floor, isn't even making shots yet. | 1 | 5-2 |
| 6 | Grizzlies | The best story of the season so far, the Grizzlies finally lost a game on Monday. It required overtime. Ty Jerome, who is on an a Linsanity-like run to start the year, still had 40. The Grizzlies lead the league with 133 points per game and are the only team than ranks top-five in both offensive and defensive rating. | 6 | 6-1 |
| 7 | Lakers | It's way to early to start talking MVP, but just know that Luka is currently running away with the award. The Lakers are No. 1 and 2 in FG% and 3PT%, respectively. They have to get the turnovers under control, but to be fair, they are creating as many (18 per game) as they are coughing up. | 1 | 6-2 |
| 8 | Trail Blazers | The Blazers are 5-1 and more than equipped to cover for the Ja Morant absence over this next month or so. Deni Avdija has led the team in scoring five straight games, as he should most nights. The offensive balance has looked great all year. Donovan Clingan was a monster in the win over Denver on Monday. | 1 | 5-1 |
| 9 | Warriors | Yaxel Lendeborg has completely revived a team that everyone left for dead. The Warriors have won five straight after starting out 0-3. | 15 | 5-3 |
| 10 | Thunder | The Thunder have been ravaged by injuries and it's not going to get better any time soon. They got whacked by Dallas and Houston by a combined 45 points before getting back on the winning track against Cleveland on Monday. That win required 35 shots from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who might have to win a third straight MVP to keep this team competitive, at least until Chet Holmgren gets back. | 8 | 5-2 |
| 11 | Cavaliers | Evan Mobley is bombing away from 3 at a 53% clip and the Cavs are quietly maintaining a top-eight offense, but they are 6.4 points per 100 possessions better without James Harden, who has opened the season shooting under 40% from the field. | 1 | 4-3 |
| 12 | Timberwolves | LaMelo Ball had his biggest game of the year with 34 in a win over Bucks on Monday. He's taken 31 3s over his last three and the Wolves are 2-2 since Anthony Edwards went down. | 8 | 5-3 |
| 13 | Mavericks | The Mavericks are telling everyone who will listen to not even bother calling about a Kyrie Irving trade. That seems short sighted, but you can understand the thinking with Cooper Flagg already trending toward All-NBA as a teenager. Dallas had a real letdown against Sacramento on Monday. That was a chance to race out to a 5-2 start. Instead, they are 4-3. | 7 | 4-3 |
| 14 | Knicks | Only the Hornets, Nets and Magic are scoring fewer points per game than the Knicks, who are a bottom-five shooting team and a bottom-10 offense. And they're only that high because of Karl-Anthony Towns, whose 55% clip is carrying a starting lineup that otherwise is collectively well under 40% from the field. | 3 | 3-4 |
| 15 | Raptors | Scottie Barnes is doing his best to make up for Kawhi Leonard's absence, averaging 30 PPG over his last four on high volume. This team can't make a 3-pointer to save its life, but they're bringing their typical brand or turnover-inducing defense. Leonard has finished treatment started his return-to-play process. He could be back as soon as this time next week. | 1 | 4-3 |
| 16 | Pelicans | After opening 0-4, the Pelicans have won three straight and the wins coincide with Herb Jones playing a lot more. Coincidence? Probably not. Zion Williamson was stellar down the stretch in handing Memphis its first loss. | 6 | 3-4 |
| 17 | Wizards | AJ Dybantsa is yet another rookie in this class that looks like a future All-NBA player. Trae Young is leading the league with 10 assists a game and has not compromised the integrity of a top-10 defense. Washington is 4-3 but all the wins are against poor teams. | 2 | 4-3 |
| 18 | Hawks | After opening 2-0, the Hawks have lost four of six and look like an average team by any metric. | 5 | 4-4 |
| 19 | Nuggets | The Nuggets are losing the Nikola Jokić minutes. I repeat, the Nuggets are losing the Nikola Jokić minutes. It has a lot to do with his time alongside DeMar DeRozan, who has been a flop so far, but still, this is completely uncharted territory in Denver. | 1 | 3-3 |
| 20 | Hornets | The Hornets have the worst offense in the league. Outside of Grayson Allen, the shoot percentages look woeful all down the lineup. Coby White is just getting back and Kon Knueppel shouldn't be far behind. Hopefully that helps. But right now LaMelo Ball is very missed. | 4 | 3-5 |
| 21 | Heat | The Giannis-Bam pairing with random shooters around them was always going to be clunky, but we did not expect this Miami defense to be a bottom-five unit. | 2 | 2-5 |
| 22 | Magic | The Magic are 2-6. They scored just nine third-quarter points in their loss to Washington on Monday. They're bottom-10 in offensive and defensive rating, Jalen Suggs hasn't played in almost two weeks and Paolo Banchero is out until at least late November. Otherwise, things are fine. | 3 | 2-5 |
| 23 | Pacers | Tough sledding with Tyrese Haliburton on the shelf. Indiana has lost five straight and is plummeting by over 13 points per 100 possessions without Hali on the floor. | 6 | 2-6 |
| 24 | Jazz | We thought the 1-6 Jazz were going to be a top-flight offense and here they are with the second-worst rating in the league and Jaren Jackson Jr. out until mid-December at least. | 3 | 1-6 |
| 25 | Suns | Phoenix is 1-4 with the worst defensive rating in the league. Collin Gillespie needs to be starting overr Jalen Green and playing more than 26 minutes a game. When he's not on the court, the Suns are losing those minutes by almost 18 points per 100 possessions. | -- | 1-4 |
| 26 | Clippers | The Clippers have lost six straight after beating the Kings on opening night. Darius Garland is their best player and they've lost his minutes by 84 points so far. Not great. | -- | 1-6 |
| 27 | Nets | You know who's loving the Nets' 1-6 start? The Rockets, who own Brooklyn's 2027 first-round pick. | 1 | 1-6 |
| 28 | Bucks | You know who's loving the Bucks' 1-6 start? The Pelicans, who have swap rights on Milwaukee's 2027 first-round pick. | 1 | 1-6 |
| 29 | Kings | Darius Acuff's right arm might fall off before the All-Star break, but hey, he's averaging 26 a night on a 1-6 Kings team that has no reason to empower anyone else. Acuff already has three games with at least 33 points, and he's moved north of 40% shooting! | 1 | 1-6 |
| 30 | Bulls | Caleb Wilson is must-watch, but the 1-6 Bulls just don't have much else. Josh Giddey is averaging nine points on 37/27 shooting splits. Norman Powell is going to end up traded. | 1 | 1-6 |
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