The Golden State Warriors begin every game as a great team with more talent than anyone else in the league. Only when they come out after halftime do they bother transforming into the greatest basketball team the NBA has ever seen.

Their offense is better. Their defense is better. Their turnover rate is lower and their effective-field-goal percentage is higher. In other words: This is when the Warriors turn into the Warriors.

Golden State is outscoring its opponents by an outrageous 28.2 points per 100 possessions in the third quarter. That’s right: 28.2 points. There hasn’t been a better single-quarter net rating since at least the 2003 season, according to Stats LLC. The Warriors have won their last seven third quarters by an average of 12.6 points. It’s not a coincidence that they’ve also won all seven games.

Now some of this is statistical noise that will quiet as the season continues. But there is reason to believe the Warriors really are that insanely good. The single-quarter net-rating record before this season was +22.7 points—and it was set by last year’s Warriors in the third quarter.

“For whatever reason,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr said, “the third quarters have been good to us lately.” And then he listed some of those reasons. “I think we get more focused in the third quarters,” he said. “We’ve been turning it over quite a bit in the first half. But third quarters, we tend to tighten it up.”