Kevin Durant, Steve Kerr prove democracy can work in NBA in Warriors' win

With the game inside the final minute, the score tied 114-114 and the Dallas Mavericks stubbornly hanging around, Warriors coach Steve Kerr had an idea. So, too, did Warriors All-Star Kevin Durant.

Their ideas were in direct conflict.

It was that way for much of the fourth quarter. Kerr dialing up plays for Durant, and Durant suggesting Stephen Curry might be the better option.

Kerr’s willingness to defer to his player – something many coaches simply will not do – surely played a role Sunday in the Warriors strolling out of American Airlines Center with a 119-114 victory over the Mavericks.

“Yeah, Kevin did that quite a bit tonight,” Kerr told reporters in Dallas. “He knew Steph had it going. There were a couple of plays that I called for Kevin and he said 'no, let’s flip it, let’s go the opposite way' and they would change spots.

“Those guys always have a great feel for what is happening on the floor and KD is so unselfish. When he sees somebody going, he is going to try to get him to go.”

Curry scored 48 points, including the team’s last seven over the final 99 seconds. When he drained a 3-pointer with 42.2 seconds remaining to give the Warriors a 117-114 lead, the Mavericks finally began to sag.

That bucket came out of a set Dallas probably assumed would be a Curry-Durant pick-and-roll. They were on the right side of the floor, their three teammates stacked up on the left side.

The Mavs were half right.

Curry and Durant orchestrated a defensive switch, leaving 6-foot-3 Jalen Brunson defending 6-11 Durant while 6-8 Dorian Finney-Smith took Curry, who stands 6-3.

Going to Durant was the obvious call. He had the physical mismatch.

Curry passed to Durant, who passed it right back and basically stepped aside to let Curry work. Why not? Curry had the rhythm mismatch.

Game.

“It was just him taking the initiative, understanding I had a hot hand going,” Curry said. “I think him being a decoy, in terms of being in the action and allowing me to work. The way they were defending us, it just made sense tonight and I’ve got to be ready to take those shots, make them and live with the results. Tonight, it obviously worked out.”

[RELATED: Watch all 11 of Steph's triples from Warriors' win over Mavs]

Draymond Green was impressed by Durant’s trust and Curry’s execution.

“Changing the play in the huddle is one thing,” he said. “To know you have a mismatch, and you’re probably the best scorer in the world, and you give the ball back because you see Steph has it going? That’s the type of play that wins championships.”

Durant said the decision-making process is not unusual for the Warriors. He’s right. Remember the 2015 NBA Finals, when staffer Nick U’ren suggested Kerr put Andre Iguodala in the starting lineup? Or how about last season, when Kerr handed his white board to various veterans, who took turns calling plays during timeouts against the Suns?

“That’s common,” Durant said. “I know I have a feel for the game. And I know I can see the flow of the game pretty easily. [Curry] had mismatches. He was making shots over everybody tonight, so why even run plays. Just give him the ball.

“It’s good, especially when you have veteran guys that know the game inside and out,” he added. “I’m sure most of us in the locker room know the game just as much as coach. So collaborative effort comes from wanting to be successful each possession. Coach calls up some great plays for us. We try to fine-tune the little details within those plays sometimes. But he has an overall template that we try to play out of and guys have been around his system for so long and kind of see things before they happen and just try to use your basketball IQ.”

Kerr’s thinking was not wrong. Durant is as good a scorer as has ever played in the NBA. He had backed Brunson in a few feet and knocked down a midrange jumper, nobody would have blinked. Durant, after all, had scored 28 points.

But Durant had only one more field-goal attempt (three) than assists (two) in the fourth quarter.

Curry had zero assists and had put up six shots. Before than dagger triple, he was 10-of-18 from deep. He had scored 43 points, including 8 in the fourth. He finished with 13 points in the fourth.

Durant made the right call, and Kerr allowed it to be made. They both look wise, particularly because they shared victory.