The defending champions were up eight points with eight minutes left when the baton was passed to the closer. It was time for Kevin Durant to take over. He signaled he was ready for the moment with a 31-foot pull-up over James Harden. The gasp from the Toyota Center crowd showed they knew what time it was, too.



The Warriors had tried to use Durant as a closer and failed, twice, squandering nail-biters in Games 4 and 5 and putting themselves on the brink of elimination in the Western Conference finals. But in Game 7, the flow and vibe was significantly different.



The painstaking Durant-save-us offense was replaced by something more smooth, more potent. Because after the 3 by KD, the Warriors didn’t go right back to him. They went to Stephen Curry, who hit a step-back 3 over Ryan Anderson. Curry got free on a drive the next time down but missed the layup despite a good look.



Then the offense went back to Durant. A 17-footer off an isolation. A 20-footer...