Toronto Raptors star Kawhi Leonard poured in 41 points—including a game-winning buzzer-beater—to lead the Raptors to a Game 7 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in their second-round Eastern Conference playoff matchup on Sunday night.
It was far from Leonard's only big performance in the series, as he scored 243 points overall, marking the most points any player has scored over the course of a playoff series since Michael Jordan scored 246 back in 1993:
Kawhi Leonard scored 243 points in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the most in a single postseason series since Michael Jordan scored 246 points in the 1993 NBA Finals.
— Justin Kubatko (@jkubatko) May 13, 2019
Of course, those 1993 NBA Finals only went six games, so Jordan's accomplishment was definitely a bit more impressive, but the fact that Leonard is second only to the GOAT in this category speaks volumes.
Leonard scored 15 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter of Game 7 and added eight rebounds, three assists and three steals to lead Toronto to its first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 2016.
During the series overall, Leonard averaged 34.7 points, 9.9 rebounds, four assists and 1.3 steals over 39.7 minutes per game while shooting 53 percent from the floor, 33.3 percent from three-point range and 85.7 percent from the free-throw line.
While this will represent only the second conference finals appearance in the Raptors' franchise history, it will hardly be Kawhi's first rodeo, as the 27-year-old made the Western Conference Finals four times as a member of the San Antonio Spurs, making two trips to the finals and winning a championship in 2014. Leonard also took home Finals MVP honors that year.
The Raptors will now move on to battle the Milwaukee Bucks, the league's only 60-win team, for a berth in the finals.
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