NBA Power Rankings: Warriors fly into top 10 with rejuvenated Stephen Curry, 76ers pushing for top spot

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."

"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.

1. Curry is off to an MVP start

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. 

2. Yaxel has changed everything

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.

3. Podz is a problem

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:

NBA Power Rankings: Warriors surge into top 10 with rejuvenated Steph Brad Botkin 3 min read

NBA Bracketology: Projecting full 20-team postseason field John Gonzalez 8 min read

Grading every lottery pick's first two weeks: Rookie class impresses Cameron Salerno 9 min read

Ranking NBA injuries so far: Why Anthony Edwards hurts the most Brad Botkin 13 min read

Jerome is NBA's breakout star -- and we should've seen it coming Brad Botkin 3 min read

LeBron explains why he sipped a 76ers fan's wine during win vs. Bulls Robby Kalland 1 min read

Green ejected for tackling Suns' Maluach, scuffling with Brooks Robby Kalland 1 min read

Five things we learned from Victor Wembanyama's '60 Minutes' interview Sam Quinn 6 min read

Thunder to retire Russell Westbrook's No. 0 in February Robby Kalland 2 min read

Why Warriors' Yaxel Lendeborg was benched for chasing 40 points Brad Botkin 3 min read