Detroit 109, Denver 106

Durant found a way to make it happen in Golden State when he played alongside Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson on the way to a pair of NBA titles. It worked there because Curry and Thompson, more than happily, checked their egos at the door and made it seem like a seamless incorporation. Harden never made the NBA Finals in Houston with big-time backcourt partners like Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook, plus didn’t even give it a chance this season alongside John Wall.

In the wake of the killings of George Floyd and Ahmaud Aubery, a somber Steve Kerr uttered an all-too-familiar response: “The violence continues.”