Kawhi Leonard is averaging career-high figures, and the reigning champions San Antonio Spurs have emerged as a 2014-15 NBA contender again.
The Spurs and Leonard make up a perfect combination of values.
The 23-year-old, who is in his fourth NBA season, has re-energised San Antonio at both ends of the floor with 19.7 points, 2.8 steals in the last ten games.
Leonard has also helped the team extend their winning streak to eleven consecutive wins with one game left.
San Antonio, the winners of 11 straight and 21 of their last 24, continue to make a strong statement of their intentions in the season.
Although San Antonio currently rank third in the Western Conference, behind the Los Angeles Clippers, they face two different scenarios.
They will climb to second if they beat New Orleans on Thursday morning, live on Supersport. If the Spurs lose that encounter, they’ll almost certainly finish fifth or sixth in the West, which is not in the team’s best interest.
Should the Spurs finish second in the West, the probability of a grande-finale in the West against the league leading Golden State Warriors turns into a battle for the ages.
First-year Warriors coach Steve Kerr won two of his five national championships while playing for the Spurs in 1999 and 2003, and served as assistant coach to Gregg Popovich.
Few know the Spurs better than Kerr.
Leonard has missed 19 regular-season games, but he is tipped to play a big role in San Antonio’s attempt to clinch their sixth Larry O’Brien trophy since 1999.
Earlier this month, he tied his career high of 26 points in consecutive games—games in which he played just 24 minutes apiece.
In the early days of Leonard NBA’s career, Popovich predicted what the 2.01m forward could become in a few years.
The man who won last year’s Coach of the Year award, said at the time: “At both ends of the court, he [Leonard] is really a special player. And what makes me so confident about him is that he wants it so badly. He wants to be a good player, I mean a great player.”
Should the Spurs reach the NBA Finals in June, then Popovich might face Mike Budenholzer, one of his former assistants turned head coach, if the Atlanta Hawks survive a torrid challenge from the title chasing Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference.
