Liberated in Golden State, Durant showing he was right to leave OKC

Unsurprisingly, no teammates have ever averaged 30 points a game during the same NBA Finals.

It would be incredibly difficult to achieve, yet it's one of the many historic feats potentially in play for the Golden State Warriors this postseason, as they sit just two victories away from their second championship in three years. After two games at Oracle, both Kevin Durant (35.5 PPG) and Steph Curry (30.0) are on pace to eclipse that number, as the Warriors continue their run as one of the most overwhelming offensive outfits the game has ever seen.

In Game 1, the Warriors were held (!) to 113 points - the result of a wide array of inexplicably missed bunnies and combined 6-of-28 shooting from Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. In Game 2, the Cleveland Cavaliers matched that 113 total - but Golden State poured in 134. It's just not fair.

But if there's justice to be found within Golden State's playoff onslaught, it's for the team's primary perpetrator, Durant.

In Game 2, KD delivered one of the most casually dominant performances you'll ever see in an NBA Finals game, not only scoring 33 points on efficient 13-of-22 shooting, but coming two steals away from a friggin' 5x5 game, with 13 rebounds, six assists, three swipes, and five blocks.

And unlike LeBron James, whose own stat line was about as sizzling - 29 points on 12-18 shooting, with 11 boards and 14 dimes - it never felt like KD was either making a conscious effort to attack or to be deferential. It never felt like he was really making that much of an effort, period. He was just playing basketball, on a high enough level that Paul Pierce wondered aloud after the game if Durant might currently be the best player on the planet.

"Best" might still be a stretch for a planet where LeBron remains an inhabitant - the disparity between the two in this series has been more about team context than anything else - but at this point, Durant is the most liberated player on the planet.

Gone are the questions about co-existing with Russell Westbrook, and about being more assertive within Scott Brooks' - and then Billy Donovan's - oft-staid offenses. Gone are the questions about late-game performances, and any reasons for a local newspaper to run a "Mr. Unreliable" headline with his face underneath.

Gone are the memories of a missed jumper (and/or uncalled foul) that could have led to Durant's 2012 OKC team taking a 2-0 advantage over LeBron in the Finals - something currently enjoyed by these Warriors a half-decade later. Gone, essentially, is the Kevin Durant narrative.

And this, more than anything else, is the best argument for why leaving Oklahoma City for Golden State was the right move for Durant.

For a player who's had an occasionally testy relationship with the media, who seemingly takes fan criticism (and disappointment) to heart, and who cares, almost to a fault, about winning with his teammates, this was simply the best way to get everyone to shut up and just watch him crush it.

Golden State gave Durant the opportunity to join a team where his flaws wouldn't be pronounced, and where his place in the hierarchy wouldn't be questioned (or even really considered). Golden State gave us nothing to say about Kevin Durant except, "Wow, that guy might be the best guy."

In Game 2, he was pretty easily the best guy. You watched sequences like him stifling a Kevin Love drive on one end before sprawling for an and-1 at the other, or blocking Kyrie Irving and then stop-and-popping for a three in transition, and felt like you've seen this guy play for a decade and still never fully appreciated him.

You've always taken him at least a little for granted - whether his singular size, skill, and athleticism, his even-keeled demeanor, or his ruthless competitive streak. You maybe never realized just how smart he is; how he's grown as a playmaker and a help defender and a decision-maker.

And watching him now, you wish that every truly great basketball player who's endured the seasons of frustration that KD has could get at least one chance to hoop above the fray like this - for our sake and for theirs.

Of course, it's easy to avoid talking about narrative when the only other thing to discuss is winning.

Kevin Durant's never known anything but Ws as a playoff Warrior, and with the Finals now heading back to Cleveland, adversity will likely strike in a way that pushes some of those old pressure points - whether it's a game when LeBron really takes it to him, or a tight one down the stretch that forces either he or Curry to pull rank in the half court, or a decisive GSW loss that leads to a nasty postgame quote or two.

That will be interesting for KD in his own right, but you just hope that if and when those moments come, they don't overshadow what a joy it's been to watch him this postseason - all-time great basketball from an all-time great player, with no outside noise except the fans' deafening cheers.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)