The Golden State Warriors started the 2025-26 campaign with a bang, winning four of their first five games on the season. Golden State’s wins didn’t come against just anyone either. All four of Golden State’s victories came against Western Conference playoff teams from last season, including the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets. With a 4-1 record, the Warriors climbed towards the top of most NBA power rankings.
Yet, the buzz around their impressive start came to a screeching halt when the Warriors suffered a pair of losses on the road against teams missing key players. On a mini two-game road swing, the Warriors dropped games against the Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers. The Bucks dealt the Warriors a loss while Giannis Antetokounmpo was a late scratch due to injury on Thursday and the Pacers streaked to a fourth-quarter comeback win over Golden State with Tyrese Haliburton sidelined on Saturday.
Following back-to-back disappointing losses, the newest set of power rankings were released by John Schuhmann of NBA.com, and the Warriors took a tumble out of the top five. To start Week 3 of the NBA season, the Warriors landed at No. 6 in Schuhmann’s power rankings.
The Bucks jumped into the top five at No. 5 and the Houston Rockets took Golden State’s previous spot of No. 4. The Lakers, Nuggets and defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder rounded out the top five.
Check out the full set of power rankings here.
The Warriors will have the chance to jump up the rankings with a tough slate of games on the docket for this week. The Warriors play four games this week, starting with the first leg of a back-to-back on Tuesday against the Phoenix Suns. The Warriors will then hit the road on Wednesday for a contest against the Sacramento Kings. The Warriors will then open up NBA Cup group play on Friday in an early-season rematch against the Denver Nuggets before rounding out the week with another rematch, this time against the Pacers on Sunday at Chase Center.
With a 4-3 record, the Warriors will host Devin Booker and the Suns on Tuesday at 7 p.m. PT in San Francisco.
This post originally appeared on Warriors Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!