SAN ANTONIO — Before the three-man referee crew missed almost everything that happened in the final 13.5 seconds at the AT&T Center on Monday, the Spurs had a rather sizable miss of their own.
Kawhi Leonard.
On another one of those nights when the home crowd routinely chanted "MVP! MVP! MVP!" each time he stood at the free throw line, truth is Leonard looked anything but elite.
One game after he did everything at both ends of the floor -- the disruptive presence that spearheaded the San Antonio defense and the offensive force that took over in Game 1 -- the do-it-all forward barely stood out from the wallpaper.
Leonard went from shooting 10-for-13 for 25 points in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals to just 14 points, including 1-for-4 and two points in the chaotic fourth quarter.
While the entire sports world was focused on the train wreck of those last seconds, Leonard was able to mostly escape notice and culpability for the difference between a 32-point San Antonio Spurs win in the opener and a 98-97 loss in Game 2.
But if it happens again in the next two games at Oklahoma City over the weekend, the Spurs are going to have a difficult time getting their game back on track.This is the burden that comes with having your name elevated into the MVP conversation. Once you start putting up those big numbers every night, they become your burden. You must step up and deliver because it becomes part of the expectation not only in the stands and among the pundit class, but within your locker room.
Over a decade in the NBA, LaMarcus Aldridge has proven able to carry that weight. He was the lead horse for nine seasons in Portland and now, having settled into his new home in San Antonio, put up 38 and 41 points in back-to-back to back games against the Thunder. But this is not the first time Aldridge was like a raging inferno in the playoffs. He poured in back-to-back 46-point and 43-point efforts on the road in the first round vs. Houston in 2014.
"I'm not thinking about scoring points," Aldridge said. "I'm just trying to do what I can to help us win."
For the Spurs to reclaim home-court advantage in the series will take Leonard reengaging reasserting himself offensively. The Thunder did not make personnel changes following Game 1. Instead, they just asked that Andre Roberson andDion Waiters ratchet up the level of attention on Leonard.
"We just wanted to come out and make them feel us," Roberson said. "We feel like they got a lot of easy things (in Game 1) and we just wanted to make an adjustment to be more aggressive and physical."
Leonard was unable to attack the rim as consistently and as successfully in Game 2. With Roberson on the bench, Leonard was guarded by Dion Waiters and took him down into the low post to cut OKC's lead to 85-84 with 6:11 left in the game. It was his only basket of the fourth quarter, his final points of the game. Roberson never got back onto the floor as Waiters took over the defense on Leonard down the stretch.
A year ago, when the then-defending champion Spurs blew a 3-2 lead and their first-round playoff series to the Clippers, it was Leonard who slipped most noticeably, shooting 8-for-28 in those last two games. But this has been a season where he has climbed many more rungs on the ladder to become arguably the best two-way player in the game. He won his second straight Kia Defensive Player of the Year Award, led the Spurs in scoring at 21.2 per game. It's been an All-NBA first team performance that will surely land him on many MVP ballots, thus the chants at the foul line. And the burden.
The Spurs contend that while Leonard has played like one of the NBA's top performers, he hasn't received the respect that should come from the officials. Defenders are allowed to be more physical with him, jostling, pushing, grabbing and doing anything to prevent Leonard from getting to the basket and taking over. He doesn't openly complain, but can be seen now pleading his case with the referees a bit more.
Waiters' elbow on Ginobili during the infamous inbounds play wasn't the only time he got physical. Waiters also got rough and tumble with Leonard all through the fourth quarter and so it is that the series is tied 1-1 and the burden to break through is on San Antonio.
Now if the Spurs are going to respond, it's Leonard's turn to push back.
Fran Blinebury has covered the NBA since 1977. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter.
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