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OAKLAND — Kevin Durant entered the league at 212 pounds, a skilled 19-year-old string-bean forward around the average weight of a shooting guard. Klay Thompson is 205. DeMar DeRozan is 216. Jimmy Butler is 220.

Over the past decade, the Thunder led Durant through a meticulous strength and diet program, carefully adding bulk without eroding his historic scoring skill. His weight slowly climbed to 223 by 2009, 231 by 2011 and 237 by 2013.

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Warriors begin minicamp next week, Curry and Green unlikely to participate This offseason, Durant arrived in the Bay Area in the mid-240s, delivered to Golden State the weight of a good-sized big man. Draymond Green is 229. Joakim Noah is 231. Blake Griffin is 251.

“He looks super skinny, but he’s wiry strong,” Green said of Durant. “You think you’re going to back him down, you’re not. You think you’re going to run him over, you’re not.”

After a sluggish start, the Warriors have rocketed up to eighth in the league in defensive efficiency and second in blocked blocks. As the offense hums at historic rates, the defense has provided the backbone of this current 12-game win streak.

And at the backbone of that backbone are two do-everything forwards: Draymond Green, loudly trumpeting himself for Defensive Player of the Year and Kevin Durant, quietly providing versatile, Green-like defensive contributions.

The greatest example came this past Saturday. Green was forced to miss the Timberwolves game with an ankle contusion. So Steve Kerr told Durant pregame: You’re guarding Karl-Anthony Towns for stretches tonight.

Towns is 7-foot, 247 pounds, the kind of powerful center 22-year-old Durant wouldn’t dream of checking. But this is the sturdier, 28-year-old Durant. He forced Towns into a corner airball late in the first quarter. Towns got him back with a sweet sweeping hook a few possessions later. But in their matchup, Durant more than held his own.

On one late second quarter possession, he strongly pushed Towns off his preferred post-up spot, made him redirect several times, stoned Towns’ attempted back down once he finally got the ball and then forced a rushed, uncomfortable 19-foot contested fadeaway brick.

Durant also finished the night with six blocks, a career-high, adding to his total of 29 this season, which is tied for 10th most in the NBA, right behind Serge Ibaka and ahead of Dwight Howard.

“Although I already believed it, I think KD proved he can guard anybody in the NBA,” Green said. “Whether he wants to or not is another question. But that’s what I took away from that (Timberwolves) game. He can really defend anyone. It’s pretty unique. He’s stronger than he looks.”

This isn’t new to the Warriors. Durant — but only when engaged, as he has shown a tendency to have regular season lapses — has been a defensive monster the past few years. Scott Brooks and the Thunder’s 2013 staff saw it coming. He’d jacked up his frame enough that they felt comfortable going to smaller lineups for longer stretches, playing Durant and Ibaka as the power forward, center combo.

Durant had the girth. Now he needed the tutelage. So he sought out teammate and friend Kendrick Perkins, an old-school power center who learned under Kevin Garnett and made a career out of defending the Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol types. Both Perkins and Mark Bryant, the Thunder’s long-time big man coach, trained Durant in their perfected craft.

“Mark Bryant would always bring me to the side, show me film. Perk would show me all the little tricks he’d use,” Durant said. “The positioning, doing the work early, that part of it comes from Mark Bryant and Kendrick Perkins.”

Durant took an even larger step forward last season. Monty Williams, fired as head coach of the Pelicans, was hired as the Thunder’s lead assistant. As a player, Williams was an undersized big who used craftiness to hold his own in the post. After practice every day — until mid-February, when Williams’ wife tragically died and he was forced to leave the team — the two worked tirelessly on Durant’s post defense.

“From little swim moves to just bumping him, the little small stuff that you probably wouldn’t see,” Durant said. “Grabbing a guy on his ribs: the Lance Stephenson. Doing those little things to irritate a guy.”

In perhaps Draymond Green’s most impressive defensive sequence ever, he blocked two Atlanta Hawk shots down the stretch to seal Monday night’s win. Durant, coincidentally, victimized the Hawks in similar fashion last season, perfectly showcasing his versatile defensive qualities.

On the first play, with the Thunder going small, Durant was forced onto 250-pounder Al Horford. The Hawks isolated him against Durant in the post. Horford went to his power dribble, right-hand hook shot. Durant completely stuffed it back.

Then on the next play, Durant found himself in a switch on Dennis Schroder, the same Hawks’ point guard Draymond Green swatted out of bounds on Monday. This time, Durant showed off his lateral quickness, sliding with Schroder on a slithering drive and left-hand blocking his layup into Russell Westbrook’s hands. Durant had blocked a center and point guard, in isolation situations, on back-to-back plays.

Durant’s defensive transformation was perhaps highlighted most in the West Finals this past May. His length and activity throttled the Warriors in that series. He had 12 blocks and 12 assists in the seven games, including that memorable, impossible double-jump block of a Shaun Livingston layup.

“He kind of screwed our whole offense up in the playoffs,” Green said. “It was impressive.”

Six months later, Durant is no longer terrorizing the Warriors on defense. He’s teaming up with Draymond Green to terrorize others.

KD then and now, as a Warrior and as a rookie for the Sonics