Russell Westbrook is the friggin’ 2016-2017 season MVP. But if there’s a 2017
playoffs MVP award, it should go to Kawhi Leonard.
Okay, maybe LeBron James. But he’s the doggoned King of Basketball. He has transcended being an NBA player. He’s an invincible
celestial being. If the NBA is a video
game, LeBron is the boss of the final level.
And is somehow powered by a cheat code.
He shouldn’t count.
Anyway, Kawhi is the best two-way
player in the league right now. And this
fact is in full display during this particular sequence in the 3rd
quarter of the exciting Game 5 between the Rockets and the Spurs...
 |
| Wow. |
Let’s break that down, shall we?
Throughout this game, Kawhi did a
stellar job bothering Harden, in spite of how much the Rockets had to work hard
and be creative with their screens in order to dislodge the former from the
latter.
In this sequence, Kawhi shadows
Harden, as usual, but gets bumped a bit by Trevor Ariza’s screen…
Kawhi gets slightly delayed a
step behind; Harden drops a pass to Ariza before Kawhi can recover…
Kawhi promptly chases off Ariza
from the three point line; when Ariza drives, Kawhi follows…
The uncomfortable Ariza passes
the ball to Clint Capela. But Kawhi is
long and quick, as he shifts and leaps to block the shot with ease…
He gets the ball, dribbles it to
the other end…
…easily gets through Harden’s “defense”…
…and avoids Capela’s attempt of a
block with a reverse layup.
 |
| 2 points. |
Amazing.
Kawhi Leonard’s versatility and
impact in both ends of the floors are truly unmatched in the NBA. On top of that, he’s the only guy I’ve seen in
the last few seasons that has been able to really give LeBron problems.
LeBron may be the King, but Kawhi
is the Kingslayer.
Kawhi's amazing, but SA still won game 5 with him sitting on the bench and/or largely ineffective down the stretch, and Harden still had a tremendous game, even though he struggled some in OT, though he kept getting his teammates involved with wide-open looks, which they weren't hitting as much as usual. Other than game 2, Harden has outplayed him each game. I'd rather have Kawhi than Harden though, but not through 5 games. SA's cast/coaching is superior to HOU's.
ReplyDeleteYou do make a good point for Kawhi being MVP throughout playoffs. It's between Harden, James, RW, and Kawhi. Losing in 1st round pretty much excludes RW, though. Kawhi was phenomenal vs MEM. But, MEM was just a 43-win team playing with Tony Allen and needing a 40yo Vinsanity to play key minutes, while SA sneaks out the series in 6.