Toronto Raptors: Whose stock is rising, Norman Powell states his case

Kawhi Leonard

In what felt like a fairly average week for Kawhi Leonard, he still managed to average 26.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and four assists per game.

We did, however, see one of the best defensive displays from Kawhi all season, if not the best. Leonard tallied six steals in three quarters of basketball, albeit against the Bulls, but incredibly impressive nonetheless.

Leonard demonstrated his impressive IQ, ripping the ball away from countless Bulls players. In the clip above Leonard goes over the screen from Robin Lopez and chases Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot to the rim, ripping the ball out of his hands as he tries to hit the roll man in the pocket.

Leonard only had 14 points in the game, shooting 4-10, but he made his impact by getting to the free throw line six times, hitting all six attempts. In his last four games, Leonard is shooting 92-percent from the free throw line and getting there at a career-high rate.

Rewind to last Friday, and Kawhi Leonard had another stellar game. Even if he did have eight turnovers, which were not good. Leonard was efficient from the field and finished with 37 points in the game, shooting 12-23 and 80-percent from three.

The Raptors collapsed in the second half against the Thunder but Kawhi was still a plus-12 in the game and was not at fault, although the turnovers were not ideal.

Stuck in the middle of the Thunder and Bulls games was the improbable loss to the Charlotte Hornets where Leonard once again put his scoring on display with 27 points on just 10-18 shooting, another big game performance from the Klaw.

Even though Leonard sat out against the Knicks on Thursday night (time travel) he played in his last four games, a great sign that he’ll be more than ready for the postseason.