Kevin Durant had made significant improvement over the past few seasons as a defensive player. Durant said his motivation to dedicate himself to that side of the floor was out of fear.

"I've been a scorer my whole life," Durant told ESPN this week. "I've been a one-on-one player my whole life. All I've thought about in the past was different ways to score, rather than different ways to impact the game. Since 2012-13, I've been trying to figure out ways to impact the game outside of scoring.

"Defense started to creep in there probably two years before I got to the Warriors. Defense started to become a focal point for me where I wanted to be trusted. I didn't want to be the guy where all the film clips are about how they back-doored me, or how someone drove around me or how I'm not contesting shots. I was more so just nervous about being called out during film sessions. That's why I wanted to get better."

Durant is second in the NBA in blocks behind Rudy Gobert, averaging 2.45 per game.

Durant said he would "like to be an All-NBA defender."

"I just want to be counted on by my coaches and my teammates in those situations," he said. "I don't want my coach to have to pull me out the game in situations in the fourth quarter because I can't play defense and then they need to go to a defense-offense [substitution pattern]. I don't want to be that player. I never wanted to be that player. So that's what I feared more than anything."

Durant elevated his defensive game playing beside Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston.

"It's contagious," Durant said. "If you're seeing that all the time, and it's creating points for you, that s-- is fun. It's fun when you get your teammates involved on both ends of the floor and you're all as one out there on the basketball court. You don't want to be the liability, and that's what I'm fighting against."

Durant also credited Thabo Sefolosha and Kendrick Perkins for influencing him on defense.