Vintage Steph Curry was so spectacular, even Kevin Durant insisted he have the moment

There are few greater NBA highs than when the ball reaches Stephen Curry’s hands and he dances with his defender until hurling in an inevitable three-point shot from an ocean away. He did a whole lot of that in a 48-point night to beat the Mavericks on Sunday

Curry drained 11 three-pointers, including the go-ahead shot that ended the tight shootout, reminding fans of what a vintage Steph night looked like. Those don’t happen as often with Kevin Durant in town.

This has been a tumultuous Warriors regular season, but Sunday’s Steph brilliance showed a much more glass-half-full view of Golden State’s chances of retaining its core for a three-peat and beyond. Specifically, it reinforced the improving on-court dynamic between two of the world’s greatest scorers in Curry and Durant.

Durant deferred late-game possessions to the hot hand in Curry, which Draymond Green and head coach Steve Kerr raved about afterwards. It’s often tough for superstars like Durant to pass up a game-winning shot in the clutch, but Sunday showed he’s willing to do it.

After a few stumbles, the Warriors are on the right path, with DeMarcus Cousins set to debut at the end of the week.

The decisive shot of the game came in the final 45 seconds, when Curry heaved a deep three that sunk through and put away Dallas.

More impressive than the swish, however, was Durant’s willingness to pass up what could’ve been an isolation for him so Curry could get the ball back instead in a tie game.

That struck even those who have warred with Durant in the past, like Green.

“As a player, I watch what we do on the floor,” Green said. “And we run a play and KD gets ISO’d with Jalen Brunson — and I like that matchup — but he threw the ball right back to Steph and Steph hit the three.

“To know you’ve got a mismatch, and you’re probably the best scorer in the world, and you give it back because you see Steph got it going... that’s the kind of plays that win championships.”

According to Kerr, Durant had been deferring the workload all game.

“KD knew Steph had it going,” Kerr said, “and there were a couple plays that I called and he said ‘Let’s flip it. Let’s go the opposite way [to Steph.]’ Those guys always have a great feel for what’s happening on the floor and KD is so unselfish, when he sees someone going, he’s going to try and get him the ball.”

Curry’s 48 points came on 17-of-32 shooting and 11-of-19 shooting from distance, which, damn. According to the Warriors, it’s the 12th time he’s scored at least 20 points in each half, showing how he controls entire games and not just short stretches of them.

It’s important not to take for granted the effortlessness of his jaw-dropping array of moves.

He worked off-the-dribble:

Off the catch-and-shoot:

And even when there was no clear lane to just about anything, he stepped back from deep:

Curry’s 48-point game was just another chapter in a book of dozens of spectacular offensive displays, but fewer have happened in the Kevin Durant era. Sunday was a sign that even KD realizes letting Steph be Steph is and will always be the key to Golden State’s success.