The Spurs are on to the second round of the playoffs, and the reason is Kawhi Leonard.
Through six games he averaged 31.2 points per game on 54.8 percent shooting overall and 48.3 percent from three. Plus he was taking on Mike Conley — the toughest Grizzly to defend — for long stretches of the game. Leonard has a PER of 36.4 through the first round of the playoffs, which is flat-out ridiculous.
That comes on the heels of a season where Leonard was a legitimate MVP candidate — he’s going to draw a lot of votes.
“We have a knack for hanging in ‘cause things happen, and obviously Kawhi Leonard is, in my opinion, the best player in the league right now,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said in his postgame press conference. “He’s the best two-way player, and does it all with such class, it’s impressive.”
“His conditioning is like nothing I’ve ever seen,” Grizzlies coach David Fizdale added about Leonard. “I mean, the guy, he just keeps coming and keeps coming and keeps coming and he finds a way to make a play, a winning play, whether it’s a steal, a block, a rebound, a drive, pass. He made plays tonight off the dribble.”
If Leonard isn’t the best player in the game — LeBron James can stake a claim, for one — he’s damn close. He’s a Swiss Army knife who can do whatever a team needs to win — get buckets driving the lane, hit threes, grab a board, or lock down an opponent on defense. That kind of elite versatility is rare.
It feels like an MVP trophy and some more rings are in Leonard’s future, although probably not this season. Leonard will do all that in about the most Spurs way possible, not hyping himself at all along the way.
