Kawhi’s last-second winner completes Spurs’ comeback vs. Magic
San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard has often been described as a different kind of superstar, a guy who dominates with league-best defense and smart decision-making on the offensive side. These ideas are borne out by the stats — Leonard averages an impressive 20.0 ppg but is most easily lauded for his efficient shooting percentages.
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There’s a lot of truth to this opinion, but in many ways it’s just as reductive as the idea that volume shooters lack a sophisticated understanding of the game. Because Kawhi showed Wednesday night that he’s perfectly capable of taking the ball with the game on the line and breaking down a defender one-on-one.
With the Spurs tied 96-96 with the Orlando Magic with only 13 seconds remaining in regulation, Gregg Popovich called one of his trademark excellent out-of-bounds plays — he gave the ball to his best player and let him take a game-winning shot over the defending Aaron Gordon. Take a look:
It nearly wasn’t enough, though, because the Magic nearly tied the game up with just 0.9 seconds left on the clock. Evan Fournier threw a perfect full-court pass behind the Spurs’ prevent defense to a streaking Elfrid Payton, but the point guard could not finish the necessarily rushed reverse lay-up. The miss allowed the Spurs to hold on for the 98-96 win. The pass was Fournier’s second fantastic play in Orlando’s last two possessions — he buried a three-pointer to tie the game right before Leonard’s winner:
The Magic likely never should have allowed the game to get to that point in the first place. Up 81-67 early in the fourth, Orlando allowed the Spurs to get back into it on a night when they were playing without Tony Parker. Tim Duncan started in his return from an eight-game layoff due to right knee soreness, but he managed only 18 minutes. Yet San Antonio received strong play in crunch time from Leonard, Danny Green, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Patty Mills for a 31-17 fourth-quarter advantage.
Leonard’s winner was the cap to a fantastic night overall — a game-high 29 points on 12-of-19 shooting. He’s not the flashiest player around, but those are superstar scorer numbers nonetheless.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
