Yesterday, The Ringer launched its Top-100 gamers record, and naturally, as with each article of this nature, there have been some rating selections that basically make you suppose.
One of which was the location of two-time NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, who they’d ranked twenty second within the affiliation. Their reasoning wasn’t primarily based on his capacity, however relatively, his availability.
“All-time winner and two-way monster who would easily crack the top 10 of any NBA ranking if his body allowed it,” The Ringer Staff Writer Michael Pina wrote.
And truthfully, who might blame them? Coming into final evening’s sport in opposition to the Dallas Mavericks, Leonard had solely appeared in 18 of his crew’s first 42 video games, posting a marginal 17.3 PPG on 55% True Shooting (-2.7 share factors worse than the league common).
So what did Leonard do? The similar factor he did when individuals counted him out in San Antonio, Toronto, or when this similar Mavericks squad got here inside one sport of pulling off a first-round upset: delivered an iconic efficiency that made everybody eat their phrases.
In practically 36 minutes of motion, Leonard scored a season-high 33 factors, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals on a pristine 95.5% True Shooting effectivity. This outburst additionally marked his highest Game Score output of the season (36.8). Coincidentally, the final time his Game Score was that top was in Game 6 of the Los Angeles Clippers’ 2021 first spherical matchup in opposition to the Mavericks.
The half that signifies that this obscure Tuesday evening outing might spark a turnaround is that his scoring wasn’t solely predicated on midrange mastery, which has already been glorious all yr (91st percentile, per Dunks & Threes).
Instead, he was additionally getting it finished from past the arc (3 for five on the evening) and the free throw line (12 for 12). Two areas which have performed an enormous position in turning him into one of many league’s most effective quantity scorers (keep in mind, he was part of one of many best scoring seasons in NBA historical past).
His decision-making and poise have been additionally on full show, as Dallas frequently despatched double groups his approach any time he caught the ball within the mid-post space. He responded to this remedy in typical Cyborg method, calmly surveying the structure of the terrain and figuring out the most effective accessible possibility, like this:
Hopefully, Tuesday’s masterpiece foreshadows what’s to come back for Leonard for the rest of the season. Because if his physique permits him to maintain stringing collectively most of these performances, he’ll be a lock for any top-10 record very quickly.