Kawhi Leonard emerging as star as Spurs move into NBA title contention again

What do James Harden, Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook and LeBron James have in common? They’re all legitimate MVP candidates, of course.

But what else does that Awesome Foursome have in common?

In a potential playoff series against the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, they can all expect to see an individual matchup with Kawhi Leonard.

In case you’ve been transfixed by March Madness, the Spurs are looking like a championship contender. Again. If you want some perspective, my son Andrew was born in July 1997. In his lifetime, there has never been a postseason that has not included the Spurs.

Don’t be misled by the Western Conference standings, which say the Spurs are sixth. Just two games separate the second seed from the sixth seed, and it is not out of the realm of possibility that San Antonio – which struggled early and was still flailing a bit in late February – could snag the Southwest Division title along with the No. 2 seed, entering the playoffs as the NBA’s most dangerous team. (If the Spurs finish 5-0 and there is a three-way tie for 1st place in the Southwest Division, the Spurs have the tiebreaker.)

“We are starting to play the way we want to play right now,” Spurs forward Tim Duncan said. “We are starting to.”

“They are doing what championship teams do,” said coach Steve Kerr of the league-leading Warriors, whose team caught its worst beating of the season from the Spurs on Sunday night. “You try to make it through the regular season. You try to peak at the right time and they are peaking. They are playing awfully well.”

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich consistently maintains that his team’s success is driven by its system, not a transcendent star. And while that is simplistically true, it is clearly evident that Leonard – the youngest Finals MVP in NBA history a year ago – is the most indispensable member of the Spurs.

San Antonio is 9-9 without Leonard and 42-17 with its best two-way player, who was sidelined earlier in the season with a hand injury. Since Feb. 25, no team – not Houston (14-6) with Harden, not Cleveland (14-5) with James, not the LA Clippers (15-5) with Chris Paul, not even Golden State (19-4) with Curry – has a better winning percentage than the 17-3 mark of the Spurs.

And during that 20-game stretch, Leonard has been spectacular. Assuming the biggest workload with a team-high 33.7 minutes, Leonard is averaging 19.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.75 steals. He is shooting 51.4 percent overall and 38.6 percent from the arc.

Leonard’s presence and statistical impact on the Spurs has been addressed before. What he has been doing lately is imposing his will on each game, which is what stars like Harden, Curry and James do. And he is doing it on both ends of the floor.

“He is really playing confidently, but he hasn’t forgotten to predicate his game on defense and on the boards,” Popovich said. “It kind of fuels him offensively.”

In a recent win over Memphis, Leonard scored San Antonio’s first 15 points of the fourth quarter. Two nights later, he helped bottle up Dwyane Wade, limiting the Heat’s top option to 6-of-20 shooting. On Friday, Leonard scored 15 points in a 45-point first-quarter explosion vs. Denver.

“That was just Kawhi’s quarter,” Duncan said. “We just rode his coat tails the entire time. He had a great start and we fed off of that.”

In Sunday’s romp over Golden State, Leonard matched career highs with 26 points and seven steals while shutting down Curry. The Splash Brother had one of his hot streaks going with 13 points in a two-minute span. Leonard switched onto Curry and stopped him cold, adding a handful of demoralizing strip steals from arguably the best ballhandler in the game.

Leonard’s effectiveness on Curry certainly got the attention of Kerr, who already is thinking ahead.

“It is one of the things that happen in the playoffs,” Kerr said. “You go over matchups. You think about possibilities. You have some actions for certain matchups. Yeah, we will look at that. I think they might have done that last game for a possession or two.

“But Kawhi was phenomenal. He was the best player on the floor. He did it all at both ends. Once Stephen got going, they put him on Stephen and he slowed him down.”

Other playoff-bound teams had better start taking notice as well. Imagine the Dallas Mavericks with Monta Ellis bottled up. Or the Portland Trail Blazers with Damian Lillard reduced to a jump shooter. Or the Rockets with Harden – their only legitimate playmaker – being hounded. Or the Clippers with Paul not throwing lobs or getting to the rim. Or Atlanta the Hawks with Jeff Teague unable to play pick-and-roll with Al Horford.

Only the Grizzlies, who have defensive demon Tony Allen, and the Cavaliers, who have two perimeter threats in James and Kyrie Irving, seem to have the personnel to limit Leonard’s two-way effectiveness.

Leonard’s youth allows Popovich to extend his minutes. His rebounding allows him to play as a stretch-4 for brief stretches. His length creates havoc in the passing lanes and leads to easy baskets. His versatility allows him to guard four positions including point guard, giving the porous Tony Parker a chance to concentrate on offense. His 3-point shooting allows him to spread the floor and open attack lanes for himself and teammates.

And his recent uptick in offensive aggression has made the Spurs title contenders. Again.

If the Spurs repeat as champions, it will be because of Leonard, an undeniable superstar.

TRIVIA: Which active coach has the most trips to the conference finals without reaching the NBA Finals? Answer below.

THE END OF CIVILIZATION AS WE KNOW IT: The Basketball Hall of Fame added Louie Dampier, who did most of his work in the ABA; Lisa Leslie, a WNBA player; George Raveling, who went to zero Final Fours as a coach; John Isaacs, who played for the New York Rens; and Lindsay Gaze, who played and coached internationally for Australia. Still not in the Hall of Fame is Maurice Cheeks, a 52 percent career shooter who retired as the all-time steals leader, ranks 33rd all-time with a 115.8 offensive rating, was named to five All-Defensive Teams, played in four All-Star Games, reached three NBA Finals and won a championship in 1983.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers, when asked by the Portland Tribune about the pitfalls of coaching his son, Austin:

“It’s not been that difficult, to be honest. He’s just another guy who won’t listen to me.”

TANKS A LOT!: We are happy for Paul George, who made his season debut Sunday in Indiana’s 77th game of the season. He returned to action despite Pacers president Larry Bird’s declaration that his All-Star forward is “not 100 percent and he’s in no condition to go out and play a 30-minute game.” So why is he coming back? What’s to be gained by his return? A playoff berth? Indiana is a game out of the eighth spot in the East, which carries a certain first-round exit vs. Atlanta. Conversely, missing the playoffs would give a slow, aging team an infusion of youth and energy with a likely top-10 pick.

LINE OF THE WEEK: James Harden, Houston vs. Sacramento, April 1: 38 minutes, 16-25 FGs, 8-9 3-pointers, 11-13 FTs, eight rebounds, six assists, three steals, seven turnovers, 51 points in a 115-111 win. It is the third straight appearance here for Harden, who became the first player in Rockets history – which includes top 10 all-time scorers Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone and Hakeem Olajuwon – with two 50-point games in a season. “I don’t think the word ‘stop’ is a word you can use when you’re talking about James Harden,” Kings All-Star DeMarcus Cousins said. Yes, you can, and I’ll prove it: You can stop talking about how other MVP candidates stack up against Harden. (See Sheridan’s dirty little secret in his latest MVP rankings.)

LINE OF THE WEEK BY SOMEONE NOT NAMED JAMES HARDEN: Chris Paul, LA Clippers at Portland, April 1: 39 minutes, 13-21 FGs, 5-9 3-pointers, 10-10 FTs, five rebounds, 17 assists, four steals, one turnover, 41 points in a 126-122 win. Including 3-pointers from teammates, Paul was responsible for 80 points as the Clippers overcame a 19-point deficit in one of the toughest road venues in the league. Anyone who thinks this guy is slipping is nuts.

LINE OF THE WEAK: Kemba Walker, Charlotte at Indiana, April 3: 28 minutes, 1-9 FGs, 0-2 3-pointers, 4-6 FTs, one rebound, three assists, one steal, three fouls, four turnovers, six points in a 93-74 loss. Not much floor leadership from the point guard, who had his worst shooting game since opening night, hurting the playoff hopes of the Hornets.

TRILLION WATCH: After three eventful weeks, the heroes of zeros have gone quiet again. The best lack of effort came from Pelicans forward Luke Babbitt, who had a 3 trillion Wednesday at the Lakers. Teammate Dante Cunningham wrecked a 9 trillion with a foul Saturday at Portland, Raptors forward Tyler Hansbrough ruined a 7 trillion with two fouls Monday vs. Houston and Blazers forward Alonzo Gee spoiled a 7 trillion with a turnover Monday vs. Phoenix.

GAME OF THE WEEK: Houston at San Antonio, April 8. With 10 days left in the season, there are just two games separating the second-seeded Rockets and the sixth-seeded Spurs. They could conceivably switch positions this week if defending champion San Antonio can sweep the home-and-home series, with the back end in Houston on Friday.

GAME OF THE WEAK: Minnesota at Sacramento, April 7. The Timberwolves are tied with Philadelphia for the longest current losing streak at six games; the Kings are third with five losses in a row. Minnesota has the longest current playoff drought, dating to 2004; the Kings are second, missing the postseason every year since 2006. Need any more reasons to skip this one?

TWO MINUTES: In Wednesday’s loss to Dallas, Oklahoma City had the rarity of three players with at least 30 points – Anthony Morrow (32), Russell Westbrook (31) and Enes Kanter (30) – which sent the numbers crunchers scrambling. The last team to lose with three players scoring 30-plus points was the Portland Trail Blazers (Isaiah Rider 35, Brian Grant 34, Arvydas Sabonis 31) in a 140-139 home overtime loss to Phoenix on Nov. 14, 1997. The last to do it in regulation also was Portland (Rod Strickland 32, Cliff Robinson 30, Clyde Drexler 30) in a 131-124 setback at Seattle on Jan. 15, 1995. But for many years, the only game in which it ever occurred was famous for something else – Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points. In that game, the Knicks got 39 points from Richie Guerin, 33 from Cleveland Buckner and 31 from Willie Naulls in the 169-147 loss to Wilt’s Philadelphia Warriors on March 2, 1962. In fact, it didn’t happen again until March 27, 1984, when the Denver Nuggets suffered a 140-137 loss at Houston despite 33 from Kiki Vandeweghe, 32 from Alex English and 30 from Dan Issel. Denver’s fourth-leading scorer in that game was our own Danny Schayes. … This is the first full season in which Stan Van Gundy did not finish .500 or better or make the playoff as a coach. So when he reached 400 career wins last week, the Pistons head man wasn’t exactly overjoyed. “I think I have 400 losses too, and they might have all been this season,” he cracked. … When Blazers guard Wesley Matthews tore his Achilles tendon a month ago, the void was expected to be filled by Arron Afflalo, who had been acquired from Denver at the trading deadline. But Portland has gotten a recent unexpected boost from second-year guard C.J. McCollum. Over the last 10 games, he is averaging 12.7 points in 22.1 minutes while shooting 52 percent (49-of-94), including 15-of-32 from the arc. And with Dorell Wright out at least four weeks with a broken hand, McCollum is going to have to play in the playoffs as the backup wing. “With Wes and Dorell gone, we need his scoring punch when he comes in, and it looks like he’s kind of latched on to that responsibility,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. … Rockets rookie Clint Capela’s free-throw shooting is getting out of hand. This week, Capela had a game with three misses and two more with two apiece and is an unfathomable 0-of-15 for the season. Do you know how hard it is to be the worst free-throw shooter on a team with Dwight Howard, Josh Smith and Joey Dorsey? … For someone like me who reads every player’s line in every single boxscore, Warriors forward Marreese Speights certainly got my attention Saturday with 18 points and six fouls in a mere 10 minutes. … Last week we mentioned that the Hawks – who ducked a huge blow when Paul Millsap’s shoulder injury was diagnosed as merely a bruise and sprain – wouldn’t mind seeing the Heat in the first round. The Nets wouldn’t be a bad option, either. Atlanta has beaten Brooklyn three times this season by a combined 66 points, averaging 114 points and 30.3 assists while shooting just under 50 percent overall and 42 percent from the arc. The teams play again Wednesday in Brooklyn. … This could be the closest race for the scoring title in NBA history. Houston’s James Harden began the week at 27.684 points per game. Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook is at 27.661, a mere 23 thousandths of a point behind. The closest came in the 1977-78 season, when Denver’s David Thompson scored 73 points in an afternoon season finale to push his average to 27.15 – and was overtaken by San Antonio’s George Gervin, who scored 63 that night to finish at 27.22, just seven hundredths better. … Spurs guard Tony Parker had a 718-282 record through his first 1,000 career games, which is the best winning percentage in NBA history for anyone who has played at least 1,000 games. … Lance Stephenson has reached the low point of his season. With the Hornets hosting the Celtics a week ago in a game with huge playoff implications, Stephenson – who has endured an awful shooting campaign that cost him his starting job – didn’t even get off the bench in a 116-104 loss. He didn’t play two nights later vs. the Pistons, either, despite having the second-most playoff experience of anyone on Charlotte’s roster.