How Warriors built NBA's top defense

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It wasn't long ago that defensive ineptitude was a depraved aspect of the Golden State Warriors' appeal. Sure, they wouldn't win during the decade and a half Chris Cohan was the owner, but they'd entertain customers as the Showtime version of the Washington Generals, a harmless farce of a team that revved the pace, scored cheap baskets in transition and propped up the opponent's attack like a pro wrestler complicit in his own humiliation. Running fast meant more points, with the empty stats glossing the poor product like shiny wax on a rotten apple. This was who the Warriors were; even their occasional playoff teams weren't strong defensively.

Now things are different. The Warriors are one of the best teams in the league, and generally the explanation has been shooting and the Splash Brothers. Less discussed is the scrambling, suffocating amalgam of long limbs flying at ball handlers with the speed of hurricane winds that comprises the best defense, by far, in the NBA -- better than Thibodeau's Bulls, Popovich's Spurs and the improved Bucks, Blazers and Hawks.

The Warriors have been first in defensive rating from the day their season started -- a 98-day streak that's still going. The offense fits the vibe, makes the highlights and gets the publicity, but it's the defense that has people thinking about titles.

How they got it here is no accident.