With a 3-3 record, the Golden State Warriors currently sport a defensive rating of 113.6 – placing them as the 20th-ranked defensive unit in the league.
Compare it to their first six games of last season, where their defensive rating of 98.7 helped them to a blazing 5-1 start. So far during this young season – operative word being “young” – the Warriors haven’t exactly looked like world beaters on defense, something that’s been part and parcel of every single championship run they’ve made.
Different personnel can partly be attributed to that.