OAKLAND, Calif. – By the time Kevin Durant was standing under the rim, all alone, as the last line of defense against LeBron James, the Golden State Warriors had already unleashed seven months of frustration – resulting from that incredible NBA Finals collapse, those endless 3-1 lead jokes, those insulting Halloween party RIP cookies and that Christmas afternoon meltdown – on the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Draymond Green had already knocked James off his feet with a flagrant foul that he playfully mocked as a flop, and Stephen Curry had already offered a reminder of how special this team is when he’s more aggressive and starts “Steph-ing.” But when the Warriors needed to shut down all hope, it was on the newest participant in the league’s greatest competitive battle – which James refuses to call “a rivalry” – to show that his efficient scoring is only the most talked about aspect of his considerable repertoire.

James came barreling down the lane and lunged toward the rim, where Durant – the Warriors’ resident rim-protector – caught the ball clean, slapped it off James’ head and watched as it landed in Green’s hands to ignite a break. Durant’s block, which also sent James crashing to the floor, was one of the many not-nice ways the Warriors snapped a four-game losing streak in the same building where the Cavaliers claimed their first NBA title last June. But after Monday’s resounding 126-91 victory at Oracle Arena, Durant wasn’t the least bit interested in hearing that the win also ended his personal five-game losing streak to James, dating to Jan. 29, 2014.

“I didn’t know we were playing one-on-one out there,” Durant told The Vertical. “I mean, it’s eight other guys out there, it’s not just me and him.”

The NBA has long been a star-driven league, with superstars used as the primary foundation to market and promote the game. James and Durant have been two of the game’s biggest stars for many years, but James has had a decided edge in head-to-head matchups, going 18-5 against Durant, including a 4-1 series victory in the 2012 NBA Finals. Even if he keeps score in his head and would rather ignore it, Durant wasn’t going to act as if he cared.

Kevin Durant gives the Warriors a new dynamic against LeBron James and the Cavs. (AP) More

“I never really looked at it as, ‘I lost to this guy, I beat this guy that many times,’ ” Durant told the Vertical. “We’re playing as a team. There is a lot of stuff that can happen for you to win a game, especially when it’s good players. But I didn’t know we were playing one-on-one. I didn’t know that was a thing. Do you talk about any matchups against other guys? Does John Wall have more wins against Kyrie Irving? Do y’all talk about that, too? If you want to play one-on-one, look at the stat line across the line, me and him, individually. But we’re not playing one-on-one out there. If we were, then you can start talking. It’s a team game.”

Durant’s desire to be part, but not necessarily the center, of a basketball brotherhood is what led him to Golden State, where the self-less, pass-happy scheme of coach Steve Kerr has resulted in the NBA title Durant lacks and back-to-back Finals appearances. The move has Durant on a team that is 35-6 and only two games off the Warriors’ record-setting 73-win pace of a year ago as he prepares for his second game against his former team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, on Wednesday at Oracle Arena. “I don’t care about our record,” Durant told The Vertical. “We’ve just tried to play some good basketball and not worry about the record. That’s what’s most important to us.”

Before his first meeting against the Thunder in November, Durant went out of his way to explain his reasons for leaving in free agency and opened up about his relationship with former longtime running mate Russell Westbrook. Durant isn’t taking that approach this time around, choosing to instead deflect questions about whether he and Westbrook have spoken, or if he’ll have any emotions when he sees those blue and orange uniforms again. He does admit that the initial 122-96 win over the visiting Thunder went a long way toward helping him settle into his surroundings.

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