Kawhi Leonard: Top 5 Performances By The Klaw As A Spur

The 2017-18 season saw some of the most unexpected events transpire surrounding Kawhi Leonard and the San Antonio Spurs. The quad injury that occurred to Leonard created all sorts of discord between him and the Spurs organization. And, eventually, to everybody's surprise, Kawhi Leonard was traded to the Toronto Raptors along with Danny Green in exchange for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, and a protected 2019 first round draft pick.

Kawhi Leonard was one of the biggest draft day trades in the history of the game. The San Antonio Spurs traded the then-reserve guard George Hill to the Indiana Pacers for the 15th pick in the draft which they used to get Kawhi Leonard.

Kawhi since then has blossomed into one of the best two-way players in the game and his transformation into a top 5 talent revitalized the Spurs. Be it Leonard's versatility in the back-to-back Finals run in 2013 and 2014 that led to him winning the 2014 Finals MVP award, or the heroic MVP-level 2016-17 season after the departure of Tim Duncan to become the face of the franchise, Leonard has provided us with some epic performances over the years playing for the San Antonio Spurs.

Although Kawhi Leonard is now no longer a part of this great franchise, it is befitting to look at the top 5 performances from Leonard in a Spurs uniform.

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#5 Kawhi scores 37 points in Game 2 of the 2016-17 Playoffs

The Grizzlies can't stop Kawhi Leonard

Kawhi Leonard has had a lot of big games for the Spurs, but this was among the best of the best. With Leonard reaching his individual peak in the 2016-17 season, he showed the world what he was capable of in this first round playoff matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Leonard finished the game with a then playoff-career-high 37 points with 11 rebounds and 2 assists. He became the first Spurs player to have at least 35 points and 10 rebounds in a playoff game since Tim Duncan did it against the Phoenix Suns in 2008. Leonard also became the first Spurs player to start a postseason with consecutive 30-point games since Terry Cummings in 1992 with this performance.

Not only did Leonard shoot 64.28% from the field, he went perfect from the free throw line, making all of his 19 attempts which made him the first player with as many makes and no misses since Dirk Nowitzki’s 24-of-24 game in 2011.

There was absolutely nobody that could stop the ‘Klaw’. Four different Grizzlies tried to guard him, but Leonard was able to score on all four of them.

#4 Leonard scores career-high 41 points against LeBron and Company

Kawhi Leonard scores a season career high

After the retirement of Tim Duncan in 2016, the reins of the San Antonio Spurs were given to the young and dynamic 2014 Finals MVP, Kawhi Leonard. In the 2016-17 season, Leonard turned himself into one of the best two-way players in the game and this particular game proved that he was more than capable of being the new face of this legendary franchise.

Kawhi Leonard scored a then career-high 41 points on the road against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Although James' deep 3-pointer from 30 feet away with 34.8 seconds left in regulation tied the game at 107 and sent it to overtime, Kawhi had the last laugh as he went on to score six in OT, including a game-sealing dunk with 4.9 seconds left. Leonard finished the game with 41 points, six rebounds, and five assists.

Apart from scoring a career-high, Leonard, with this performance, had scored 30+ points consecutively in his last 6 games, passing the 40 point mark for the first time in his career. His 30+ point streak in six straight games is quite an accomplishment considering it’s the longest since George Gervin had 30+ in 10 straight in 1980.

David Robinson had such a streak three different times, scoring 30+ in four straight games. Tim Duncan had only one streak of four straight games. It’s safe to say that Kawhi Leonard cemented himself in Spurs history with this spectacular performance.

#3 Kawhi Leonard tops James Harden in an epic MVP battle

Kawhi Leonard blocks James Harden's game-winning layup

This performance can easily be recalled as the game where Kawhi Leonard made his case for 2016-17 season MVP as the Spurs hosted then award-frontrunner James Harden and the Houston Rockets.

Not only did Leonard score 25 of his 39 points in the second half to help erase a 16-point deficit but he also had the two biggest plays at the end of the game to put the Spurs up for good.

Trailing by two with 25 seconds remaining, Leonard nailed a 25-foot 3-pointer to give the Spurs a two-point lead. On the ensuing possession, Harden drove the lane looking for the game-winner but Leonard blocked him from behind and knocked down two free throws to help seal a 112-110 win.

Leonard finished with 39 points, matching Harden’s point total, plus six rebounds, five assists, a steal and two blocks. He shot 12-for-18, 4-for-5 from deep and 11-for-11 from the line. He played 39 minutes and committed just a single turnover. This is close to a perfect game.

Popovich’s postgame comments summed up the kind of night Leonard had as he praised the Spurs forward by saying that many players shoot threes, but not many players work every single night on the defensive end of the floor like Kawhi does.

#2 Kawhi Leonard scores playoff career-high 43 points against the Memphis Grizzlies

Kawhi Leonard scored playoff career high

As the San Antonio Spurs and the Memphis Grizzlies locked horns in the first round of the 2016-17 NBA Playoffs, they gave us yet another game for the ages as the team's biggest superstars set new playoff career-highs, exchanging blow for blow down the stretch.

Although Marc Gasol played the role of a hero with the game-winning shot in this exciting overtime battle, this game was about an epic duel between Kawhi Leonard and Mike Conley. Kawhi Leonard put on a herculean performance that featured a playoff career-high with 43 points on 14-of-30 shooting.

With the Spurs trailing 88-80 with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Leonard went into overdrive and played like a man possessed to get the team into overtime with 16 consecutive points. His pull-up jumper over JaMychal Green with just 12 seconds left gave the Spurs a two-point lead with valuable time ticking.

Leonard gave everything he had into the game as the match headed into overtime. He hit two three-pointers and clutch free throws to tie the game.

With this legendary performance, Leonard did something no one in NBA history has done in the playoffs, per Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN Stats & Info). Leonard became the first player in NBA history with more than 40 points, more than five steals and more than five threes made in a playoff game.

Courtesy of @EliasSports, Kawhi Leonard is the 1st player in NBA history with at least 40 points, 5 3-pt FG & 5 steals in a playoff game

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 23, 2017

Even though the Spurs ended up losing the game, Leonard never gave in and was as close to an unstoppable force as an individual player has been in a postseason game.

#1 Kawhi Leonard scores Finals career high

Kawhi Leonard scores

Although this performance has the fewest number of points scored by Kawhi Leonard in this list, this is arguably some of the best basketball he has played in his career and undoubtedly his best game considering it was Game 3 of the 2014 NBA Finals. The former San Antonio Spurs forward finished the game with 29 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals.

In the past 35 years, only two other players younger than 23 years old have scored 29 or more points in an NBA Finals game: Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant. Both players won titles in the year they pulled the feat. (Magic dropped 42 in his epic series-clinching performance during his rookie year. Kobe went over 30 points twice in the Lakers’ 2001 Finals win over the Philadelphia 76ers).

Kawhi Leonard also passed James Worthy to become the youngest player in NBA Finals history to score at least 25 points on better than 75% shooting from the field, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Although Leonard finished the game with then career-high 29 points, the offense took a back seat to Leonard's defensive gem. He held LeBron James to series lows in 22 points and 14 field-goal attempts and forced him to commit seven turnovers. James had more giveaways (five) than makes (three) in the second half.

The San Antonio Spurs went onto win the game 111-92 and eventually the Finals in 5 games. Kawhi Leonard was the named the 2014 Finals MVP.