Kawhi Leonard: Top 5 Performances By The Klaw As A Spur

#2 Kawhi Leonard scores playoff career-high 43 points against the Memphis Grizzlies

Kawhi Leonard scored playoff career high

As the San Antonio Spurs and the Memphis Grizzlies locked horns in the first round of the 2016-17 NBA Playoffs, they gave us yet another game for the ages as the team's biggest superstars set new playoff career-highs, exchanging blow for blow down the stretch.

Although Marc Gasol played the role of a hero with the game-winning shot in this exciting overtime battle, this game was about an epic duel between Kawhi Leonard and Mike Conley. Kawhi Leonard put on a herculean performance that featured a playoff career-high with 43 points on 14-of-30 shooting.

With the Spurs trailing 88-80 with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Leonard went into overdrive and played like a man possessed to get the team into overtime with 16 consecutive points. His pull-up jumper over JaMychal Green with just 12 seconds left gave the Spurs a two-point lead with valuable time ticking.

Leonard gave everything he had into the game as the match headed into overtime. He hit two three-pointers and clutch free throws to tie the game.

With this legendary performance, Leonard did something no one in NBA history has done in the playoffs, per Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN Stats & Info). Leonard became the first player in NBA history with more than 40 points, more than five steals and more than five threes made in a playoff game.

Courtesy of @EliasSports, Kawhi Leonard is the 1st player in NBA history with at least 40 points, 5 3-pt FG & 5 steals in a playoff game

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 23, 2017

Even though the Spurs ended up losing the game, Leonard never gave in and was as close to an unstoppable force as an individual player has been in a postseason game.