Power Rankings: Champs impress

The defending champs, as regular readers know, always start the season in the top spot of ESPN's weekly NBA Power Rankings.

Yet it should be clear, after the season's opening week, that the championship they won in June is far from the only reason that the Golden State Warriors peer down at the rest of the league at this early stage.

Looking lasered in right away after an indifferent preseason, Golden State improved to 70-15 in their last 85 regular-season games by bolting to a 3-0 start that also hiked the Warriors' road record to 37-16 since the start of last season (and including the playoffs). With reigning MVP Steph Curry averaging a ridiculous 39.3 points -- and sporting an unfathomable…