“Playoff Kawhi” living up to his reputation as a big-game player for Raptors
TORONTO — If “Playoff Kawhi” was a superhero, his most lethal superpower would probably be his ability to sap the sheer will out of his opponents.
Sidelined by a serious quadriceps injury last season, Kawhi Leonard hadn’t made a playoff appearance in two years. But his reputation for treating the regular season as 82 practices, and knack for cranking his game up another notch when the playoffs tipped off was legendary. Fans couldn’t wait to get a glimpse of “Playoff Kawhi.”
And through five games of the post-season, the Toronto Raptors star has certainly lived up to his billing.
“That killer instinct . . . the biggest thing that I’d seen in the last series (against Orlando) was you could see him just taking those guys’ spirits away, breaking those guys’ spirits and no matter what they really did it didn’t phase him or affect him, he was able to break their will so to speak,” said guard Fred VanVleet. “That’s what superstars do.”