Matt Steinmetz

On the “NBA This Week,” we welcomed Michael Lee of the Vertical and Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post. With the Warriors facing the LA Clippers on Saturday night at Oracle, we talked about what happened to one of the league’s best rivalries.

That’s the way it used to be for the Warriors and Clippers. But now it’s all about the Warriors, who have beaten the Clippers seven consecutive games and 15 of the past 20. With Chris Paul out of tonight’s game, it’s tough to see that trend stopping.

What are the plans for the Clippers? Can they get healthy for one last run or will they try to make a move (Carmelo Anthony?) to shake things up? Other topics of conversation were the Chicago Bulls, who are a mess these days, the New York Knicks and whether or not the Kings would entertain trading DeMarcus Cousins.

Also, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he would play the Warriors’ four all-stars together during the NBA All-Star game in mid-February in New Orleans. A hot topic of conversation is which player do you want being the fifth on that unit.

Link to interview with Michael Lee, senior writer at the Vertical.

Link to Hour 3 & interview with Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post.

Make no mistake about it, the charge-block call continues to be one of the least appealing aspects of the NBA and how it’s officiated, but there’s another annoyance climbing the pecking order in a hurry.

Fouls on 3-point shooters.

There are way too many called, and too frequently it’s because the shooter found a way to get a defender into the air, then lean into him to initiate contact. But it’s not just leaning in. Often it’s an offensive player purposefully drifting one way or the other and/or exaggerating when the invariable contact occurs.

Nobody likes seeing a 3-point shooter have to take a tough shot, late in the shot clock, then be rewarded because he was able to bait a defender and fool an official at the same time.

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The Warriors found themselves in a  tight ballgame late on Wednesday, but there was no need to worry about their crunch-time offense. Golden State was nearly perfect the final six-plus minutes against the Hornets in Charlotte and ended up winning going away — 113-103.

The Warriors scored 24 points in the game’s final 6:24, including a stretch where they scored on 10 consecutive possessions. Kevin Durant had 16 of his game-high 33 points in the fourth quarter, going 5-for-6 from the field and 6-for-6 from the foul line. Durant went to the line three straight possessions midway through the period, which got the Warriors on the right side of the score.

Link to “Warriors WrapUp,” the postgame show on 95.7-FM The Game.

For a little while, the Warriors’ streak of 131 consecutive regular-season victories without losing back-to-back games seemed to be in peril. Charlotte led by as many as 10 points in the third quarter before the Warriors worked their way back into the things by the start of the fourth quarter.

The Warriors went to their small lineup — Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Durant and Draymond Green — for a good chunk of the fourth quarter, and it paid off as they finished off the game with a 21-9 run. The Warriors took advantage of Charlotte’s lumbering and stagnant big men: Roy Hibbert, Spencer Hawes and Frank Kaminsky. That trio finished 7-for-24 from the floor with five turnovers among them

The Warriors got an unexpected lift from James Michael McAdoo, who found himself on the court for 20 minutes in large part because of the injury to David West. McAdoo finished with eight points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots. Warriors coach Steve Kerr credited McAdoo and the team’s second unit for setting a defensive tone at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Early in the season, rim protection was a big problem for the Warriors, but over the course of the year they’ve gotten better and better at defending the rim and the paint. On Wednesday, the Warriors had 14 blocks, including four by Durant.