The Golden State Warriors were able to inch by the Cleveland Cavaliers on Christmas Day in a thrilling 99-92 win.

A major of part of that was the strong play of All-Star forward Kevin Durant, who put up an all-around performance with 25 points, seven rebounds, five blocks, three assists, and two steals. The win over the Cavaliers also improved Durant's personal success against LeBron James since joining the Warriors, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

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It has been an entirely different level of success that Durant has had against James over the last two seasons with the Warriors. This includes an almost clean sweep of the Cavaliers in the 2017 NBA Finals where he won the NBA Finals MVP award after a historic performance from him in the series.

He was the clear-cut choice for the award for Golden State after averaging 35.2 points on 55.6 percent shooting from the field, including 47.4 percent from beyond the arc, with 8.4 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 1.6 blocks per game. He was also the first player to score 30 or more points in the first five games of the NBA Finals since Hall-of-Famer Shaquille O’Neal did so in 2000.

It is fair to assess that Durant has benefitted from playing around elite talent with the Warriors and it is also clear that he has taken his game to another level. This has also allowed for him to put together huge performances against James and the Cavaliers. With the two teams set to play at least another time in the regular season, it will provide Durant another opportunity to better that record.