Kawhi Leonard continues to make his MVP case

The first play in the LA Clippers 103-97 win over the San Antonio Spurs Thursday was a harbinger of things to come for both teams.

DeMar DeRozan was matched up on Kawhi Leonard, two players who were traded for one another in a blockbuster deal that changed the landscape of the league last summer. Leonard received the ball on the wing, made a move to work himself into the midrange, and DeRozan fouled him.

Leonard and DeRozan were their teams most consistent sources of offense on a night when LA and San Antonio both struggled to score. Clippers not named Kawhi shot 41% from the field while Spurs other than DeRozan shot 33.3%.

But while LA had some answers for DeRozan throughout the night, the Spurs were powerless to stop Leonard from start to finish. That ended up being the difference in Thursday's game.

"DeMar DeRozan good, Kawhi Leonard better” was the story of Spurs-Clippers and also the last 18 months.
— Mike Prada. (PRAY-duh) (@MikePradaNBA) November 1, 2019

Leonard ended the game with 38 points and 12 rebounds, the first Clipper to reach those totals since Blake Griffin in 2015. After his playmaking took center stage to start the season (he's had at least five assists in all four contests he's played thus far), the Spurs let Leonard remind the NBA that he is a world-class scorer. Only five of his points were assisted on as Leonard thrived in isolation against smaller defenders.

"[The Spurs] didn't help off as much as the other teams did," head coach Doc Rivers said postgame. "I’m sure they watched film and said, if you trap him, he's going to kill you. He's just so big, he can see over everything, so what they basically tried to do is guard him one-on-one, and that took away the passing lanes."

Taking away the passing lanes is a fine strategy so long as the individual defender can provide some resistance. With DeRozan starting on Leonard and Bryn Forbes and Patty Mills alternating turns on the two-time NBA Finals MVP, Leonard had his way getting to his spots on offense. If it weren't for some uncharacteristic misses in the short midrange (4-14 ft), where he shot 5-of-16, Leonard likely would have had a historic offensive performance.

As a result of San Antonio's defensive strategy, Leonard only had one assist. But as Rivers pointed out, his ball movement was key down the stretch. With the Clippers nursing a four-point lead with under two minutes to play, Leonard was doubled in the post and swung the ball to the open, leading to a Montrezl Harrell lay-up.

"I thought the biggest play of the game was late in the game, [the Spurs] did come, he throws it to Pat, Pat throws it to Trez, and we get a three-point play," Rivers said. "So that's nice that they haven't been coming, but when they do come, you're still ready."

It wouldn't be a complete Kawhi Leonard performance without stifling defense on the other end of the floor, and he obliged in the second half, absolutely hounding the San Antonio perimeter players. He finished with four steals, but even that seems to undersell the terror he inflicts on opposing ball handlers.

The most purely poetic moment was probably a thieving of DeRozan that led to a slam on the other end, and evoked memories of a similar moment in Toronto last year. But this effort against Rudy Gay, to fight through the LaMarcus Aldridge screen and still emerge cleanly with the ball is peak Leonard.

Leonard may not have always have the same motivation as he did against his former team. As Lou Williams put it, "It looked like he was pretty incentivized, and it damn sure felt like it." But at this moment, he is arguably the best player in the NBA. With or without Paul George, on most nights, that will be enough.