The Warriors didn’t win five straight games all last season.
Just two weeks into 2026-27, they’re already going streaking.
Since falling to 0-3, the Warriors have ripped off five straight wins, capped by Monday’s 116-113 comeback over the Suns at Chase Center. Golden State trailed by 17 points early, then Steph Curry erupted for 25 second-half points to will the Warriors to victory. Charles Bassey, playing heavy minutes after Draymond Green’s third-quarter ejection, flew around for 19 points and eight rebounds.
By beating the Suns, the Warriors swept a back-to-back — something they did just twice last year.
The Warriors are doing this while still getting comfortable with offensive adjustments, with Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody in street clothes, and presumptive starting center Kristaps Porzingis MIA.
After Sunday’s victory, one Warriors veteran reveled in the locker room — “How ‘bout them Warriors! They were ready to write us off!” — referencing outside prognosticators circling like vultures after their 0-3 start. Most pundits have been down on Golden State’s outlook since the start of the season. A hot week in the Fall won’t necessarily have everyone making a 180-degree turn, some of the most bullish internal preseason projections are starting to look prescient.
“It feels very real,” coach Steve Kerr said. “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. So we turned a bad start into a good start, and now we’ve got to keep it going.”
The optimistic case for the Warriors heading into the season went something like this: A healthy Curry remains elite, Brandin Podziemski makes strides in his fourth year, rookie Yaxel Lendeborg makes an immediate impact, and a re-energized coaching staff implements productive tweaks.
Check, check, major check, check.
The key for Golden State is to at least tread water while Butler and Moody recover. The meltdown against the Grizzlies was a painful flashback to the Warriors’ late-game woes of recent seasons, but the team recovered as well as possible.
“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.”
The present moment is one of earned optimism.
So much of that stems from Lendeborg, who has transformed what’s possible for this team.
Today
5 days ago
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It’s typically fair to expect rookies to be up and down. Maybe they have 20 great games, 25 so-so ones, and 20 where they’re basically unplayable. Through eight games — roughly 10% of the season — the 24-year-old has eclipsed 30 points twice and had just one stinker. Lendeborg never quite found his rhythm against the Suns but still finished with 16 points, five rebounds, five assists, and a key late block on Jalen Green.
The Warriors are already trusting Lendeborg to run a heavy dose of high pick-and-rolls and are running plays to isolate him at the elbows against mismatches. He has been one of the most efficient isolation scorers in the league through eight games, a stunning development for a prospect many analysts viewed as a defense-first connector.
“It’s really a lot like playing with Jimmy [Butler],” Podziemski said.
Lendeborg has scored more points than Kevin Durant, made more 3s than Paul George and James Harden, and grabbed more rebounds than Joel Embiid. In Denver, the Warriors ran their fourth-quarter offense through him. Against the Clippers, he hit stepback 3s he rarely practices. In Minneapolis, he dropped 26.
“He’s changed us dramatically,” Kerr said.
Meanwhile, Curry leads the league in Player Efficiency Rating and Box Plus-Minus — catch-all advanced metrics. At 38, he’s averaging 30 points in 28.8 minutes per game. He’s still as powerful an offensive engine as anyone in the league.
Podziemski has emerged as a reliable second-side creator and has improved defensively. He’s averaging 17 points, 5.0 assists, and 4.8 rebounds while frequently wrecking opposing offenses’ drives in help defense. If he continues to play as he has to start the season, his five-year, $110 million extension will be a bargain.
“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.”
With help from a focused coaching staff, the Warriors have bought in and approached every game since the opener with tenacity. The front office can take early victory laps for landing role players Georges Niang, Brandon Williams, and Bassey.
What feels different about this group from last year’s?
“Yax,” Curry said. “BP taking another step forward. B-Will’s been great for us off the bench, giving us something different that we haven’t had in a while. I think we’ve had some individual production that’s been pretty cool, some standout guys have made their presence felt night after night. I think collectively … we’re probably a little more prepared on the details of what we’re trying to do, and not just taking for granted that you can play like the Warriors of old and just expect good things to happen.”
Sportsbooks pegged the Warriors as a 37-win team before the season. They’re 5-3 and would be 6-2 if they hadn’t choked against Memphis. It hasn’t been an easy schedule, either: The Grizzlies have been hot, the Lakers are in win-now mode around MVP candidate Luka Doncic, and Golden State has already had a pair of back-to-backs.
Around the West, the Thunder have been decimated by injuries; the Clippers, Kings, and Jazz are messes; and the Nuggets have real issues to sort through. One or two top-six seeds look up for grabs.
Maybe some folks were too quick to write off the Warriors. Maybe age will eventually catch up to them.
But Golden State’s early-season turnaround is at least cause for rethinking.