Durant sheds label with a clutch performance

Kevin Durant has been ridiculed since he left the Oklahoma City Thunder to join the Golden State Warriors.

He’s been called a sellout.

He’s been labeled a talent-chaser who couldn’t win until he joined an all-star team.

Earlier this postseason, he came under fire for some subpar performances.

You can add another label to the long list after his performance in the Warriors’ 110-102 win over the Cavaliers on June 6 in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. Thief. Because of his 43-point effort on a night when nothing else was going right for the Warriors, Durant has stolen any momentum Cleveland hoped to gain in Game 3 and likely pilfered any hope the Cavaliers had of getting back into this series.

Golden State will go for the sweep on June 8 at Quicken Loans Arena.

“His overall game tonight was ridiculous,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr said.

And that’s probably low-balling it.

On a night where Steph Curry couldn’t hit nearby Lake Erie with an entire rack of basketballs, and both Draymond Green and Klay Thompson were widely ineffective, Kevin Durant put the Warriors on his back and carried them within one step of another NBA title.

“We’ve got a lot of guys who can play, and they’re chipping in,” Kerr said. “But we should probably go back to Kevin Durant, shouldn’t we? That was amazing what he did out there tonight. Some of those shots, I don’t think anybody in the world can hit those but him. “He was incredible.” If someone would have said prior to the game that Curry would be 3-for-16 shooting and miss 90 percent of his 3-pointers (he was 1-for10), most would have figured the Cavaliers had a victory and were going to be down in the series, 2-1, with a chance to even things up on June 10 in Game 4 at Quicken Loans Arena.

Durant had other ideas.

While Curry, Green and Thompson combined for 31 points on 11-for-35 shooting, Durant did everything his teammates didn’t. He made 15 of 23 shots (including 6 of 9 from beyond the arc) and hit all seven of his free throws.

He pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds and dished out seven assists, somewhat a miracle because virtually no one else on his team was making shots.

In short, this one was all Kevin Durant.

Because of him, the Warriors are one win away from sipping champaign in the visitor’s locker room at The Q.

“I liked the way he was attacking,” Kerr said. “He’s not waiting around. He’s attacking right away on the catch, and it’s devastating to have to guard that.”

To the credit of the entire Golden State team, they withstood the Cavaliers’ storm. The Warriors knew full well that down, 0-2, the Cavaliers were going to come out with a ton of energy and momentum in Game 3 — deemed a do-or-die type of game for the Cavaliers if they wanted to stay in the series.

Cleveland had double-digit leads twice in the first half. The Cavaliers had their chances. But Golden State helped itself immensely by going on a 16-5 run to end the first quarter and then ended the second quarter on a 10-4 run, including a deep three by — who else? — Durant to keep the Warriors within striking distance at 58-52 at intermission.

“Yeah, we felt very fortunate to only be down six (at the half),” said Kerr, whose team never led until the third quarter. “Kevin was the story in the first half, just keeping us in the game. And then he was the story in the second half as well, closing it out.”

Durant’s 33-foot pullup triple with less than a minute to go made it a 106-100 Golden State lead, and all but took the Cavaliers out of the game.

“It just seemed like every time we needed a bucket, he got it for us,” Kerr said.

Two years ago, the Cavaliers were able to puff out their chests after rebounding from a 3-1 deficit to win the 2016 NBA championship.

Now their only chance to win the title is to oneup that by clawing back from a 3-0 deficit to win four in a row.

If Kevin Durant continues to do what he did on June 6, chances of that happening are infinitesimal.

John Kampf