Kawhi Leonard Is Doing Things No Superstar Has Ever Done for the Toronto Raptors

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Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler engaged in a Game 4 duel that resembled something out of Terminator 2, and Leonard was the winning machine Sunday afternoon as his Toronto Raptors evened the Eastern Conference semifinals with a 101-96 victory.

No matter how many runs or big shots the Philadelphia 76ers threw at him, the All-Star forward just kept charging forward like a T-1000 absorbing shotgun blasts.

He finished with 39 points, 14 rebounds and five assists. He was 13-of-20 from the field, 8-of-12 from the line and 5-of-7 from deep. His biggest shot of the night, a contested step-back three over Joel Embiid with just over a minute remaining, all but ended Sunday’s action:

“For the shots he took tonight, that was one of the tougher ones.” Leonard’s coach Nick Nurse said, per Rogers Sportsnet’s Michael Grange. “And he made a great shot.”

As seen on Toronto’s timeline, center Marc Gasol added, “You know, he’s really good at basketball.”

Kawhi’s fellow Raptors are almost as understated as he is. What isn’t, though, are the 2014 Finals MVP’s numbers.

This postseason, Leonard is up to 32.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game while shooting 58.7 percent from the field, 50.0 percent from three and 85.7 percent from the stripe. His box plus-minus trails only Nikola Jokic. His win shares per 48 minutes trail no one.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, Kawhi is doing things no other Raptor has ever done:

While this may be new for Toronto, Leonard has been dismantling opponents with robotic precision for years. It’s why he was worth the gamble the Raptors took this summer.

Among players with at least 1,000 career playoff minutes, Leonard trails only LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Chris Paul, Walt Frazier, Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley in career playoff box plus-minus. Each of those players is either in the Hall of Fame or has at least a 99.99 percent probability of getting in.

This postseason alone, Leonard’s box plus-minus is 11.4. It’s the third time he’s had a postseason run with a double-digit box plus-minus. The only players with more? LeBron James (10), Michael Jordan (seven) and Chris Paul (four).

We’re watching one of the greatest playoff performers in NBA history, and every contested jumper he sinks adds to the growing resume. On Sunday, he hit a bevy of them. Butler, Embiid, Ben Simmons. It didn’t seem to matter who was on him. He was giving everyone buckets, pouring them in with his patented lack of emotion.

The one departure? When he had the gall to throw a waist-high fist pump after he hit the dagger three over Embiid.

It was the exclamation point on Kawhi’s series-tying performance. And make no mistake, Leonard is the reason Toronto has two wins. The Raptors are getting obliterated when he’s off the floor, as pointed out by NBA.com’s Micah Adams:

The raw plus-minus in this series alone is pretty staggering, too. Toronto is plus-26 in the 160 minutes Kawhi has played. It’s minus-34 in the 32 minutes he’s rested. Philadelphia is up only eight points in the aggregate over these four games.

Whenever Kawhi is on the floor, the 76ers are in trouble.

They do have their own robot-like wing, though. And over the last three contests, Butler is doing everything he can to slow down the opposing machine.

In Games 2, 3 and 4, Butler is averaging 27.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.0 blocks. He’s shooting 49.1 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from three. Philadelphia is plus-36 in his 119 minutes over that stretch.

For all the talk of Embiid and Simmons, Butler has often looked like the 76ers’ most important player this postseason. He may be their only hope against the emotionless production of Toronto’s terminator.

As the series shifts north, this is a duel that could go a long way toward deciding the fate of these franchises.

If Butler can take down the T-1000 in Round 2, Kawhi’s location next season would be entirely uncertain. If the machine can’t be stopped, a trip to the Finals—and maybe even a new contract—would remain in play.