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Kawhi Leonard made his return from a hand injury this week, which wasn't great news for the Utah Jazz last night. In an 89-69 Spurs victory, Leonard had 12 points, nine rebounds, two steals and a block.
"Well, he always impacts the game," coach Gregg Popovich told reporters afterward. "Whether it's the person he is guarding or giving help and making a steal, rebounding the basketball, scoring. He always has an impact on the game. He was the MVP of the Finals last year. Those kind of guys usually have some sort of an impact. I am just saying. Better with him than without him, right?"
San Antonio is unquestionably better with Leonard, especially on the defensive end. The Spurs allow 93.9 points per 100 possessions with Leonard on the court this season and 103.1 with him off it, according to NBA.com. Last night, the Spurs held the Jazz to a season low in points (69) as Utah shot just 33 percent from the field.
"That's what he is good at," Popovich said of Leonard's defense. "That's what he does. It would be hard for somebody to shoot like Danny [Green] shoots threes. You've seen Kawhi's arms and hands. That helps him on defense. I don't think Patty Mills is going to do the same thing defensively if that's what Kawhi does. Patty is going to make the threes. Everybody's got their skills, it's just our job to fit them together as best we can."
On an aging Spurs' roster, Leonard has become a critical piece.
The forward originally tore a ligament in his right hand during Utah's win over the Spurs in Salt Lake City last month. In total, he missed 17 games as a result of the injury. So when Leonard took a spill during Sunday night's game, it filled Popovich with the kind of fear usually reserved for the sideline reporters tasked with interviewing the Spurs boss.
"I was scared to death," Popovich said. "He started feeling his hand and everything. That's the one test you can't give him. Before he gets back into playing you don't take his hand and whack it against a wall and say 'how does that feel?' You can't do that. We just have to hope when he gets in the game and it happens, he is ok. That was a good test."
Right now, San Antonio's record stands at 26-16. And if the playoffs started today, the Spurs would be an absolutely terrifying seventh seed with Leonard back in the lineup.
"We don't have a spot in mind," Spurs guard Tony Parker said when asked if there was a short-term goal for the team now. "We just want to get a winning streak going and then we'll see where that leaves us. We don't have a number or a seed, not at all. Right now I just look at the next 10 games. We have an opportunity to get a winning streak going and then we'll see. We'll see at the All-Star break we'll be pretty close and everybody will be rested. Usually that's the way the Spurs go. We play great in the second half of the season, we make a run. We have a good opportunity when we come back, but right now it's focus on the next 10 games, stay healthy. If we can stay healthy that's the goal."
— Aaron Falk
Twitter: @tribjazz