Kawhi Leonard had the career-night the Toronto Raptors were waiting to see after an injury-riddled season and a lot of adjusting playing alongside his new teammates. The Klaw wiped the slate clean and left 2018 in the rearview mirror, posting 45 points on 16-of-22 from the floor in a mere 35 minutes of action, beating the Jazz 122-116 to start out 2019 victorious.
Leonard stepped up with Kyle Lowry and Jonas Valanciunas unavailable due to injury, taking the scoring load squarely on his shoulders.
“The way he's playing right now is really big for our team with a lot of guys out,” guard Norman Powell said of Leonard, according to The Associated Press.
The Raptors forward scored 19 of his game-high 45 points in the third quarter, going a perfect 7-of-7 from the field and adding five points from the foul line, which turned a three-point halftime lead for the Jazz into shambles, entering the fourth trailing by nine.
“He scored in the post, he scored in isolations, he scored going to the rim over Rudy,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said of Leonard. “Eventually we started hitting him when he walked across half court. The biggest thing was we put him on the line.”
Toronto is pushing to get back to the top spot in the East, now having stringed together two wins in a row, hoping that Leonard's hot shooting can help them overtake the Milwaukee Bucks, who nabbed first place right before the end of 2018.
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