Kawhi trumps LeBron, scores career-high 41 points
Just like he did in the 2014 Finals, Kawhi Leonard saved his best ball of the season for LeBron James.
The 6-foot-7 small forward erupted for arguably his best regular-season performance ever on Saturday evening, scoring a career-high 41 points in the San Antonio Spurs' overtime victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Leonard also helped to ice the game in overtime after surrendering a jump ball moments earlier, racing to the hoop to dunk home what was ultimately the game-winning bucket.
Kawhi's game-clinching dunk off the out-of-bounds save off the jump ball. #Kawhi pic.twitter.com/k7uoCMlB3J
— J.R. Wilco (@jollyrogerwilco) January 22, 2017
With Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili's best days behind them, head coach Gregg Popovich has relied heavily on Leonard to generate offense this season. The 25-year-old is putting up career-highs across the board, averaging 25.1 points, and 3.1 assists, while flirting with a 50-40-90 line.
After a slow start to the new year (by his standards), Leonard has been on fire of late, averaging 34.7 points over his last six contests.