San Antonio Spurs talisman Kawhi Leonard is learning valuable lessons down the stretch of a grueling NBA season. Coming off a hard-earned 97-90 win over the grit-and-grind Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday, the 6-foot-7 forward had to battle for every one of his 19 points in the game, forced to defer to his teammates to pick up on the few opportunities the defense gave them.

“In the playoffs, nobody is going to let me play one-on-one,” Leonard told Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News, after finishing an efficient 7-of-15 shooting despite being denied the ball most of the game. “I’m not going to be able to come off a screen and just see open space.”

Leonard has taken a big step forward this season as the team's leading scorer, as the Spurs have counted on his maturity as a two-way player now that Tim Duncan has retired.

“They’re coming at Kawhi pretty hard,” point guard Tony Parker said. “The rest of us have to make shots and make them change strategy and come back to one-on-one defense. And then Kawhi can take advantage again.”

Kawhi has followed coach Gregg Popovich's unselfish, ball-movement motto — a strategy that has paid dividends for this team as they look to peak right before the start of the playoffs.

“I’ve just got to be patient and confident in my teammates that they’ll knock down those shots,” Leonard said. “Then it will ease up everything for me.”

Leonard has balanced his scoring aggression with impeccable playmaking, averaging 26 points per game, along with 5.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists and only 2.1 turnovers per game.