THEY HAD COME to expect he would hit the improbable jumper, the most difficult shot at the most critical time. That's why Kevin Durant came here, right? In Golden State's championship-clinching, Game 5 win, the signature Durant basket was a fallaway 3-pointer with a shade over 10 minutes remaining over the outstretched arms of Kevin Love as the shot clock clicked down -- 0:06, 0:05, 0:04.

That jumper pushed his team's tenuous lead to eight points. It's a moment that will be featured in every highlight reel, every championship documentary. Durant was named the MVP of the 2017 NBA Finals following a 39-point, seven-rebound performance that cemented his place in the pantheon of great players who rise to the occasion when the game matters most.

Few will remember another moment in Game 5, early in the third quarter, when Durant, who was shadowing LeBron James, was picked off by a screen and switched onto Love on the left elbow. Love turned to face the 7-footer, tried to post, turned back again to face Durant, took two dribbles with his right hand, pump-faked ... and went nowhere. With Durant bodied up on him, Love had no angle to shoot and tossed the ball back to James, who was forced to launch a 25-foot desperation trey that clanked off the rim.

Defense rarely makes headlines, but that's why the Warriors are champions today. After a Game 4 meltdown in which Golden State relinquished an NBA-record 86 points in a half, and a ragged first half in Game 5 in which Cleveland shot 53 percent, the Warriors regrouped in the second half Monday to extinguish any hopes of a Cavaliers comeback with closeouts such as Durant's on Love. Durant has never been viewed as a defensive stopper the way teammates Draymond Green and Klay Thompson have, but when he signed with Golden State last July, he understood what made this team thrive.

"You got to play both ends,'' he said. "I was ready for that.''

His clutch, pull-up 3 over James in Game 3 will be framed as another signature moment in these Finals, the glossy cover to a championship dossier in which he laid claim to the moniker of this year's best player on the biggest stage.

But nearly as memorable to Durant's teammates was a subtler encounter with LeBron earlier in Game 3, when James rotated to the top of the key with Durant in pursuit. For a split second, it was as if the basketball seas had parted. LeBron, with Durant crouching in front of him, surveyed a free path to the basket and made a motion to start his power drive, which he has used to muscle past overmatched defenders for much of his career. But Durant held his position, spindly arms outstretched. The message: Go ahead. I dare you.

James hesitated, thought better of it -- and passed the ball. "All you want as a defender is make a guy think twice,'' Green says. "That's what you saw with LeBron. He knows he can't just attack KD."

That realization was a residual effect from Game 2, when, midway through the second quarter with Golden State holding a 53-46 advantage, LeBron brushed off a high screen, bulled his way to the hole from the left wing and moved one step past Durant. James, convinced he had KD beat, released the lefty lay-in just before Durant swatted it into the seats.

He was far from Durant's only victim that night.

Consider Kyrie Irving, who lined up a step-back jumper from the top of the key as the shot clock dwindled down. Durant knocked that shot away, too.

Minutes later, as Love set up in the post, Durant waited, refused to bite on the up-fake, then stuffed Love when he finally launched a turnaround. Durant grabbed the rejection, drove the length of the court and scored a layup in transition.

It was a dazzling display of defensive versatility. By the time Game 2 had ended, Durant had submitted arguably the greatest defensive performance of his life. Most observers gushed over the 33 points he scored, but Durant also finished with five blocks, three steals and 11 defensive rebounds. Only one other player since 1984, according to Basketball-Reference.com, has matched those numbers: Hall of Fame shoo-in Tim Duncan, who did it in Game 1 of the 2003 NBA Finals. No Hakeem, no Shaq. Just Duncan, one of the finest defensive players of his generation, and Durant.

While KD spent chunks of this series guarding LeBron, his assignments varied, sometimes from possession to possession, matching up against everyone from Love to Kyle Korver. Durant checked Irving, utilizing his uncommonly adept foot speed to thwart a point guard who is known as one of the most dynamic finishers in the league. Irving got nowhere. When Durant was on him, he quickly moved the ball along.

"Kevin is long, he's got quick feet, he's good on lateral movement, and it's hard to shoot over him,'' says Ron Adams, Golden State's defensive Yoda. "And, if you get past him, he'll get you from behind. It's not just length -- it's also timing.''

Green is a favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year and is a regular on the All-Defensive ledger. Yet in these Finals, Durant, who has never sniffed All-Defensive -- either first or second team -- often matched Draymond's Swiss-army-knife capabilities. Green insists it is time to include Durant in the discussion as one of the league's elite defenders.

"Kevin can guard anybody in the NBA," Green says. "He's also the best scorer in the league. So how is he not the best two-way player in the game? How come nobody gives him that? It's amazing to me.''

IT'S UNDERSTANDABLE WHY we are all so mesmerized by Durant's scoring arsenal in the same way we are hypnotized by Golden State's crisp ball movement, 3-point bombs and explosive transition game. But, as Steph Curry reminds us, so many of those highlights are spawned from the defensive end of the floor. One little misstep and these Warriors will pounce, whether it's off a turnover or a missed shot.

More often than not, the Warriors have four players on the floor, including Durant, who can start the break themselves. And, as the Warriors streak down the floor, it's not uncommon for Curry or Thompson or even Durant to suddenly pull up and drill a 3. Giving up points in transition is demoralizing, but giving up three of them is crushing. It happened at least once in every game of this series.

"Those are momentum swings,'' Curry says, "that only happen if we get stops.''

Durant says that coach Steve Kerr began talking defense almost as soon as he arrived -- stressing that few, if any, championship teams won with subpar defenses, and the team needed to be within the top five of most defensive categories.