Toronto Raptors: Kawhi Leonard does his best MVP impression

Every Thursday we bring you the Toronto Raptors Player of the Week. This week’s award goes to Kawhi Leonard, who has been excellent the past three games.

Snap goes the win streak. After tying the franchise record for consecutive wins at eight, the Toronto Raptors were handed their first loss since November 16th. Even with the loss this week the Raptors put everyone else on notice, showing the world that they aren’t just the same old team.

The Raptors improved their overall record to a league-best 20-5 and 2-1 on the week. The Raptors owe many thanks to their new superstar Kawhi Leonard as he threw the team on his back and carried them to the finish line.

Kawhi Leonard’s week

The game against the Golden State Warriors was certainly a way to start the week. Kevin Durant acted as his dominating self and bullied his way to a 51-point performance, only to be matched by Leonard and his season-high 37-points. It was a battle of titans that saw Leonard doing everything humanly possible on defensive only for Durant to hit a shot one after another. All that didn’t matter in the end as Toronto went home the victors.

Leonard helped steer the ship in Kyle Lowry’s absence against the Cleveland Cavaliers as he bore the load of the responsibilities and sliced his way to a 34-point performance. This win was quite satisfying, even without LeBron James, as this was the first time back at the Quicken Loans Arena since the playoffs. Leonard may not know the anger towards the Cavs but he should take solace in knowing that it brought great joy to many Raptor fans.

The week finished on a sour note with a loss to the Denver Nuggets. Losing always sucks but this one especially stung because of how poorly the Raptors played. The Nuggets are currently regarded as a top team in not only the Western Conference but throughout the entire NBA and the Raptors had every opportunity to pull away. Instead, the players chose to miss countless shots, which in turn cost them the game.

The biggest take-away for me this week was that Leonard really came into his own. He looks comfortable playing with the team and has developed great chemistry. He completely dominated this week scoring the team-high in points in all three games played. It’s hard to argue that anyone other than Leonard should be rated as the top player in the East (although I’m certain that’s a topic being argued across the internet).

Missed the cut

There isn’t really much to say –  Leonard was the only choice for player of the week. Other players did well, such as Pascal Siakam who had himself another strong week but his performance was nowhere comparable to Leonard’s. He deserves all possible praise for doing his best to carry the team.

Make sure to check out the Raptors Player of the Week every Thursday on RaptorsRapture.com