Matt Steinmetz

On the “NBA This Week” the main topic was the Golden State Warriors and whether they’re out of their funk or not. While their 30-point win over the Orlando Magic on Thursday was just what the doctor ordered, it was still Orlando and you don’t wan to draw too many conclusions from a win over a team like that.

The Warriors (54-14) have now won two in a row after losing 5 of 7 games, which represented the worst stretch of basketball in the Steve Kerr era.

Joining the show this week were Rick Kamla of NBATV; Derek Harper, Mavericks television color analyst; and the Washington Post’s Tim Bontemps. Kamla had some interesting opinions, including the one where he said the Spurs are going to edge the Warriors out for the No. 1 seed.

LINK TO INTERVIEW WITH RICK KAMLA.

LINK TO INTERVIEW WITH DEREK HARPER.

LINK TO INTERVIEW WITH TIM BONTEMPS.

Harper was one of the toughest point guards of his generation, and he was very insightful about the game today and how it compares to his time in the NBA. Remember, Harper came into the league when it was Larry Bird and Magic Johnson’s league and played through the Michael Jordan era. So he knows a little something.

Bontemps conducted an MVP straw poll, soliciting opinions from 150 media people. Who is this year’s MVP: Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James? Anyone else in the mix?

The other day, my colleague Damon Bruce asked me to come up with the five statistics that best tell the story of Stephen Curry. Here’s what I came up with — the numbers that help explain exactly who Curry is as a player:

–.436 from 3-point range for career: Despite a down year for Curry from beyond the arc (down for him, anyway), he’s still the fourth-most accurate 3-point shooter in NBA history. Heading into this season, only Steve Kerr shot the ball better from beyond the arc, but start to think about the difference between Curry and Kerr. Curry is a two-time MVP; Kerr was a role player. The point here is that nobody in the history of the game has shot the ball so well, so frequently, from so far out. Curry’s ability to play the game outside-in is his foundation, and it sets up every other aspect of his game. You can’t tell the story of Curry without first considering his greatness from 3-point range.

LINK: “WARRIORS WRAPUP” FROM GOLDEN STATE’S 122-92 WIN OVER ORLANDO.

–2.14-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio: For the most part, Curry’s assist-to-turnover ratio has stayed the same over the course of his career. He’s had troubling years with his assist-to-turnover ratio (1.7-to-1 in 2010-11) and better years (2.48-to-1 in 2014-15). But his career assist-to-turnover ratio is 2.14-to-1. That’s not awful by any stretch unless you’re asking Curry to be a true point guard. For your basic, run-of-the-mill point guard Curry’s assist-to-turnover ratio really isn’t good enough. But we also know Curry isn’t run of the mill. He’s an extraordinary shooter and that more than makes up for a little bit of sloppiness and carelessness. Curry’s never really taken that next step — into the Steve Nash category, for example. Would it be nice if Curry assisted more and turned it over less? Yes, but don’t expect it to get better if it hasn’t by now.

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The Warriors finally looked like they had some fun on Thursday night, though there was a logical explanation: The Orlando Magic were in town. The Warriors got well  very early against the Magic and stayed healthy the whole way in a 122-92 blowout at Oracle.

It was the Warriors’ second straight victory, but the win they were coming off of was a very ordinary, very shaky 106-104 win over Philly. Golden State has lost five of their past nine overall. But it looks like the Warriors may be coming out of their slump as they were having fun, moving the ball and knocking down shots.

LINK TO “WARRIORS WRAPUP” WILL BE POSTED WHEN IT BECOMES AVAILABLE.

Klay Thompson led the Warriors with 29 points and Stephen Curry had 25. Curry has been mired in a 3-point shooting slump the past eight games and that continued against the Magic, with him going 2-for-7 from beyond the arc. In his past nine games, Curry is 25-for-96 from 3-point range (26 percent).

Everything else was solid, though for Curry, who hit most of his two-point shots as well, finishing 8-for-15 from the floor, and handing out nine assists and committing just two turnovers. For what it’s worth, the Warriors clinched the Pacific Division crown with the win — for the third consecutive year.

It was kind of a Bad News Bears type of night for the Magic. For example, coach Frank Vogel called five timeouts in the first half, none of which ever really helped in terms of changing momentum. Also, how’s this for a weird one: Orlando received a technical foul for having six players on the court … after a timeout. Yikes!

The Warriors (54-14) moved 1.5 games ahead of the San Antonio Spurs in the battle for homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs.