Matt Steinmetz

Question: Why are players taking the brunt of the criticism for resting during regular-season games?

For the past few weeks, all I’ve heard are things like “the players nowadays are so soft” or “it’s ridiculous that these guys sit out when they’re healthy,” or maybe something like “it’s so unfair to the fans that they don’t get to see players such as LeBron James and Stephen Curry play — even when they’re not injured.”

I heard one media member say today: “The players are angering the fans with this sitting out stuff.” This was the topic of conversation during my interview with 95.7-FM The Game this morning and it got pretty lively.

LINK TO INTERVIEW: “STOP BLAMING THE PLAYERS FOR RESTING; IT’S NOT ON THEM.

So, let me ask again: Why are the players getting the heat? They’re not the ones asking for days off; they’re not the ones complaining that they’re worn out and need to be healthy scratch; they’re not the ones responsible for this issue.

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Fair to say the Warriors might have Oklahoma City’s number.

The Warriors hammered the Thunder 111-95 at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Monday, their fourth win in a row. It was also their fourth win over the Thunder this year and in every one of the games the Warriors held a lead of at least 25 points. Dating back to last year’s Western Conference finals, the Warriors have beaten OKC seven consecutive games — with Kevin Durant or without.

LINK: “WARRIORS WRAPUP,” POSTGAME SHOW FROM WARRIORS 111-95 WIN OVER OKC.

The Warriors got up early and were in control all game. The best the Thunder could do was cutting the lead to just 12 in the third quarter. But the Warriors immediately bumped that up so as to take any crazy notions away from OKC.

The game was dictated by each team’s backcourt. The Warriors’ backcourt was brilliant; Oklahoma City’s struggled, to say the least. Klay Thompson finished with 34 points on 12-for-21 from the field, including 7-for-15 from beyond the arc. Stephen Curry had 23 points on 8-for-17 from the field, including 7-for-12 from 3-point range. Russell Westbrook finished with just 15 points on 4-for-16 from the field. That was just one point more than his season-low.

If the Warriors were looking for a signature moment this season, it very well may have happened at the end of the first half. With the teams lining up for a jump ball, Curry and the Thunder’s Semaj Christon got into a little back-and-forth, slap-push that quickly escalated.

Into the fray came Westrbrook, Taj Gibson, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and a few others. No punches were explained but the Warriors’ players seemed to successfully move the pile back with their pushing.

There were four technical fouls given out on the play; Christon, Westbrook, Curry and Green. With 5.3 seconds remaining, the Warriors controlled the ensuing tip in their backcourt. But inexplicably the Thunder allowed Curry to leak out while Thompson was controlling the ball and Thompson found a wide-open Curry at the other end behind the 3-point line.

Curry proceeded to knock the 3-pointer down, giving the Warriors a 59-39 halftime lead. After the ball went through the net, Curry sprinted to the Warriors’ locker room as most of the other players looked on in amazement.

Curry’s bucket put the exclamation point on a wonderful first half for Golden State — particularly its backcourt. Thompson had 18 points and Curry 17 at halftime, combining to shoot 13-for-24 from the field, including 8-for-14 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Westbrook and Victor Oladipo combined to shoot 3-for-17 from the field, including 0-for-4 from the 3-point line. With a discrepancy like that, it’s no surprise OKC found itself down 20 after 24 minutes.

The Warriors have won 89 road games over the past three years, the most road wins by a team in NBA history.

Slowly but surely the Warriors are getting back to being the Warriors. And it looks like Stephen Curry is getting back to be Stephen Curry.

The Warriors rebounded from an awful start and wound up blowing out the Milwaukee Bucks 117-92 on Saturday night at Oracle Arena. The Warriors have now won three consecutive games — after they had lost 5 of 7, their worst stretch of basketball in the Steve Kerr era.

LINK TO “WARRIORS WRAPUP,” THE POSTGAME SHOW ON 95.7-FM.

The Warriors (55-14) are now 2.5 games ahead of the San Antonio Spurs, who lost to Memphis, in the battle for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

Curry had been shooting 26 percent from 3-point range in his past nine games. But he made 6-of-8 from beyond the arc against the Bucks, scoring 28 points in just 30 minutes. The Warriors got off to a bad start, falling behind 25-11 midway through the first quarter, but rectified that in a hurry with some terrific offense. Golden State shot 60 percent from the field, including 12-for-23 from 3-point range.

After a brutal travel stretch in which they played eight games in eight different cities, the Warriors have gotten well at hoe with wins over Philly, Orlando and Milwaukee. Now, they head back on the road for a back-to-back set against Oklahoma City and Dallas.

The Warriors got contributions from a lot of players, most notably Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green. Iguodala continued his inspired play of late, scoring 15 points on 6-for-10 from the field. Green had eight points, eight rebounds and 10 assists.

Green also did a terrific defensive job on Giannis Antetokounmpo, who entered the game averaging 23 points per game. Antetokounmpo had just nine points on 4-for-14 from the floor and never got comfortable.