Warriors' ultimate playoff X-Factor is one nobody saw coming

The Golden State Warriors faced their biggest challenge of the season with a daunting back-to-back against the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets, yet passed with flying colours in two wins that have further reshaped their growing playoff credentials.

But while many were eager to see what the addition of Jimmy Butler would do against two of the best teams in the Western Conference -- both of who had combined to go 5-0 against the Warriors earlier in the season -- it was another who provided the supplementary support to a red-hot Stephen Curry.

Brandin Podziemski is becoming the Warriors' X-Factor entering the playoffs

Curry may have drawn the headlines with a mammoth 125 points in his last three games, but it's Brandin Podziemski's stunning form that may be even more important for Golden State over the closing part of the season.

The fact Curry continues to be this brilliant at 37-years-old is simply astonishing, but it's just a further extension of the greatness we've seen for well over a decade. Podziemski, on the other hand, has delivered a string of performances over the past week that is far beyond what he's done consistently before.

After drilling a then career-high seven threes on his way to 27 points against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, Podziemski produced two huge performances against two of the best teams in the Western Conference, and with the stakes incredibly high as far as regular season basketball goes.

The 22-year-old had eight threes, 28 points, eight rebounds and six assists against the Lakers, then followed that with four threes, 26 points, eight rebounds and six assists in the 118-104 victory 24 hours later.

Many were looking at Jonathan Kuminga's return and his scoring as the X-Factor for Golden State entering the playoffs, or even the size and 3-point shooting of rookie center Quinten Post. Yet instead it's Podziemski's recent form that might bring that element to go with the proven veteran trio of Curry, Butler and Draymond Green.

While he's averaging just 11.4 points for the season after a slow start, the former 19th overall pick now suddenly looks capable of someone who can drill 5+ threes and go for 20+ points in any given game.

If you add that to the offensive star power of Curry and Butler, then you have a new wrinkle to the Warrior offense that's going to make them very difficult to stop. Podziemski doing this in high pressure situations against good oppositions has not only reshaped who he can be in the long-term, but what Golden State could do come the postseason.