It took a valiant effort from Golden State to earn the 129-120 win in Game 5 of the NBA Finals at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Monday.
It was the first career National Basketball Association title for Durant, who left Oklahoma City last July to join the Warriors amid expectations he and Golden State would fill trophy cases.
In a classy move, the first person from the Cavaliers to walk up and congratulate KD was LeBron James, who KD said in a post-game interview was the only person he'd looked at as competition since the 2012 Finals when James and the Miami Heat beat Durant and the Thunder.
"Our perspective, being blessed to play on this stage three years in a row, it's for these fans, for our organisation, for these families".
"To be back here and bring gold Larry (O'Brien trophy) back home, I'm just excited to be a part of this group and accomplish something special".
"I'm telling you, I had this whole document ready".
Golden State Warriors perished their voodoo of previous year when they lost the NBA Finals to Cleveland Cavaliers despite being 3-1 up in the best-of-seven series.
Seven technical fouls, one flagrant foul, stars LeBron James and Kevin Durant jawing at each other and several other dustups.
Completing a ideal 9-0 run at home during the postseason, the Warriors became the first San Francisco Bay Area team to win a championship at home since the Oakland Athletics won the 1974 World Series.
"It's a time to definitely show everything that you're made of in those moments", Irving said.
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It was a breathtaking performance by Durant and the Warriors, who took back the title they had won in 2015 over Cleveland, only to have it taken away from the Warriors a year ago.
Durant scored 39 points in winning his first championship, Curry finished with 34 points and Iguodala had 20.
Golden State responded with a 10-3 run, Durant scoring five as the Warriors stretched their margin back to 108-98.
According to NBA.com/stats, Durant's 176 total points in these Finals were the second-highest total in a five-game series.
A 27-4 run turned an eight-point deficit into a 17-point lead and the Warriors go into halftime of Game 5 in the NBA Finals with a 71-60 lead over the Cavaliers.
Though Kerr's assistants -Walton and this year's interim head coach Mike Brown- combined to help the Warriors to a 50-4 record in the games he's missed over the past two seasons, everyone in the Warriors' organization, from the owners to the players, know how much Kerr means to Golden State's success.
"I never seen nothing like them two before", Durant said. David West fought for the ball with Irving, then they got tangled up and Tristan Thompson entered the fray and he and West went at each other face-to-face.
The only real drama in the Warriors' path to a championship this season was Kerr's health. Fouled Out-None. Rebounds-Cleveland 40 (James 13), Golden State 42 (Green 12).
The points for the Cavs did not seem to come as easy as they did for the Warriors in the fourth.
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