Kawhi Leonard added to his growing collection of hardware on Thursday when he was named the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year.
He put his complete game on display in Friday's Game 3.
Leonard scored a career-high 32 points in less than 29 minutes and anchored an incredible defensive effort to guide the San Antonio Spurs to a 100-73 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Leonard showcased his two-way dominance from the opening tip. He finished 13- of-18 shooting with three steals and two blocks, playing less than two minutes in the fourth quarter with the game well in hand.
Boris Diaw chipped in 15 points and six rebounds off the bench to make up for the relative lack of production from Tim Duncan, who scored 28 points to carry the Spurs to their overtime win in Game 2. The two-time MVP was quiet in this one, netting just four points on 2-of-6 shooting.
The Spurs will look to take a commanding 3-1 series lead in Sunday's Game 4.
The Clippers won Game 1 in convincing fashion and lost a heartbreaker in Game 2, but they looked overmatched in their first game in San Antonio. Blake Griffin was the lone bright spot with 14 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
Chris Paul was limited to seven points and committed six turnovers, but perhaps the bigger issue for LA was the lack of production from its reserves. Jamal Crawford's 1-for-11 highlighted an abysmal night for the Clippers reserves, who contributed just 30 points on 41 shots.
Leonard scored twice during San Antonio's 9-2 start. He added a pair of 3- pointers during a 10-2 run later in the first quarter that extended the lead to 25-13.
Leonard finished the first half with 16 points, none bigger than his one- handed alley-oop on a feed from Danny Green. That flush highlighted a 9-0 run, which Leonard capped with his coast-to-coast layup.
The Spurs led 46-38 at halftime and looked to put the game away early in the third. Leonard took it upon himself to make sure that was the case.
He scored 11 on 5-of-5 shooting in less than five minutes out of the break. His triple at 7:23 capped a 13-5 push that made it 59-43.
Patty Mills and Green hit consecutive 3s during an 8-0 flurry early in the fourth that put the game out of reach. Leonard put an exclamation mark on the blowout with a three-point play at 7:39 of the fourth that made it a 30-point game.
He checked out less than a minute later to a roaring ovation from his home crowd.
[SportsNetwork.com]
