‘Fun’ ride awaits Leonard
Hostile homecoming might Spur growth for entire Toronto team
Coming off a career-high night against the Utah Jazz on Tuesday, the Raptors’ Kawhi Leonard had more on his mind than individual records.
“You’re happy that the hard work pays off, but my goal’s way bigger than just trying to score 40 points in a game,” he said after putting up a personal-best 45 points. “It’s about down the road in June and just trying to be the best basketball team we could be.”
Thursday night’s return to his old stamping grounds in San Antonio to face the Spurs could be a good dress rehearsal for what to expect when the pressure is on come playoff time.
The two-time all-star won a championship and was named NBA Finals MVP with the Spurs in 2014, with San Antonio reaching the playoffs in all seven seasons of his tenure there. But as he continues to prove himself a candidate for this season’s Most Valuable Player award thanks to nights such as Tuesday, the pressure is going to be on Leonard to continue to perform. And there are few better tests of his ability to withstand that pressure than competing against his former team, a franchise he reportedly requested to be traded away from after he was dissatisfied with the way a long-term quadriceps injury was handled the past couple seasons.
Leonard and teammate Danny Green were shipped to Toronto in July, swapping spots with fan favourite DeMar DeRozan and young centre Jakob Poeltl in a franchise-altering trade.
“It’s going to be fun,” Leonard told Sportsnet of taking on San Antonio, after Tuesday’s victory. “Everybody’s anticipating the game and things like that can only get me better for the long run.”
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said he hopes the crowd at the AT&T Center will treat Leonard with kindness and respect, but Raptors coach Nick Nurse was preparing for a rough, electric and volatile atmosphere, with the home fans riding Toronto’s star.
Nurse believes it will be a good experience for Leonard indi- vidually and the team as a whole.
“He’s not very emotional in general,” Nurse said. “He doesn’t say much on the floor. He doesn’t complain to referees. He doesn’t do anything expect just play basketball, so I would imagine that he’ll have a really good chance of handling it. I would imagine he’s going to have to read the game and they’ll send a lot of bodies to him.”
Leonard has helped carry Toronto of late, averaging 30.6 points and 8.1 rebounds in his past eight games.
Green believes Leonard, who played just nine games last season due to a quadriceps injury, goes into San Antonio with something to prove.
“I think he has something to prove all year, not just there,” Green said.
“He had taken a year off kind of, not being able to play. I think every night, every team he plays against, he wants to be great and do well. Obviously it’s a team we both used to play for so I’m sure he’s going to want to do well, especially there. But his mindset is no different than the other (games): he wants to go out and play his best basketball.”