The Golden State Warriors have ripped off five straight wins to climb to a 5-3 record two weeks into the 2026-27 NBA season, defying early prognosticators who pegged them as a 37-win team.
The Warriors didn’t win five straight games all last season. Yet, after stumbling out of the gates to an 0-3 start, Steve Kerr’s squad has completely flipped the script. Monday night’s 116-113 comeback victory over the Phoenix Suns at Chase Center capped off a successful back-to-back sweep—a feat they accomplished just twice last year.
What makes this early-season surge striking is the personnel missing from the floor. Golden State is playing these minutes without Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody, both sidelined in street clothes, alongside presumptive starting center Kristaps Porzingis. Despite these absences, the roster has found production from unexpected places, transforming early-season skepticism into a legitimate reason to rethink the team’s ceiling in the Western Conference.
Steph Curry Leads the League at Age 38
At 38 years old, Steph Curry remains an offensive powerhouse. He currently leads the NBA in Player Efficiency Rating and Box Plus-Minus, anchoring the floor by averaging 30 points in just 28.8 minutes per contest.
Against Phoenix, Curry erased a 17-point early deficit by exploding for 25 points in the second half alone. His relentless scoring engine continues to drive the team forward, even as the coaching staff implements new offensive adjustments.
“It feels very real.”
coach Steve Kerr told reporters.
“We’ve been focused on the process of just trying to get better and we’ve been doing a good job of that. Our guys are locked in. Winning those two games on the road, in Denver and Minnesota, kind of righted the ship. And now we’ve carried the momentum forward.”
Steve Kerr
Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg Changes the Dynamic
The most transformative element of the Warriors’ early success is rookie Yaxel Lendeborg. Typically, first-year players experience massive peaks and valleys, but through the first eight games—roughly 10 percent of the regular season—the 24-year-old has surpassed the 30-point mark twice while registering only one subpar outing.
Against the Suns, Lendeborg contributed 16 points, five rebounds, five assists, and a crucial late-game block on Jalen Green. The coaching staff is already trusting him to run heavy doses of high pick-and-rolls and isolate against mismatches at the elbows. Through eight games, he has emerged as one of the league’s most efficient isolation scorers, vastly outperforming his pre-draft reputation as a defense-first connector.
His impact has drawn high praise from teammates.
“It’s really a lot like playing with Jimmy.”
Brandin Podziemski noted.
Lendeborg has accumulated staggering numbers out of the gate, scoring more points than Kevin Durant, sinking more three-pointers than Paul George and James Harden, and hauling in more rebounds than Joel Embiid. In Denver, Golden State ran its fourth-quarter offense through him.
Brandin Podziemski Stepping Up as a Second-Side Creator
Meanwhile, Brandin Podziemski has taken a significant leap, easing the offensive burden on Curry while wrecking opposing drives as a help defender. Podziemski is averaging 17 points, 5.0 assists, and 4.8 rebounds per game.
His five-year, $110 million extension is quickly looking like a bargain for the front office.
“Brandin’s a great competitor.”
Kerr said.
“He doesn’t get down. I think he’s really made improvements since his first couple years in terms of after a slow start, not getting down on himself and fighting through a slow start. He’s got a lot of confidence now, more than he’s ever had, and he’s playing at a high level.”
Complementary additions such as Charles Bassey—who stepped up with 19 points and eight rebounds against Phoenix following Draymond Green’s third-quarter ejection—along with Georges Niang and Brandon Williams, have provided the depth required to weather early injuries.
What Lies Ahead in a Volatile Western Conference
While the schedule has hardly been a cakewalk—featuring matchups against an inspired Memphis Grizzlies squad and the Lakers, and Golden State has already had a pair of back-to-backs—the early Western Conference standings have shown vulnerabilities. The Oklahoma City Thunder have dealt with significant injuries, while teams like the Clippers, Kings, and Jazz have struggled out of the gate, leaving one or two top-six playoff seeds wide open.
As Curry noted following the win over Phoenix, the team has not accomplished anything substantive yet.
“Guys are understanding their roles, we’re playing hard, and you’re happy to be rewarded for that effort.”
Curry said.
“And again, nobody was panicking, and also we haven’t done anything. So we’re just living in the moment.”
