The impact of Kawhi Leonard’s injury

The Golden State Warriors defeated a Kawhi Leonard-less San Antonio Spurs in come back fashion. How impactful was his injury?

Kawhi Leonard tried to fight through the pain. After stepping on teammate David Lee’s ankle, Leonard hobbled out of the game. He went to the bench only to check in shortly after.

The Golden State Warriors attacked Leonard with Kevin Durant and the San Antonio Spurs’ defense got a stop. The Spurs’ star tried to take a fading jumper in the corner and Zaza Pachulia closed out hard. He landed, took another hop, and Leonard landed on his feet, twisting his ankle once again.

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He fell to the ground and was slow to get up. Despite being in considerable pain, Leonard hobbled to the free-throw line and took his attempts. He was then subbed out and wouldn’t return for the rest of the game.

The Warriors would then go on an 18-0 run. They would completely eliminate the Spurs’ 25 point lead and win the game. The Leonard-less Spurs tried to stop the bleeding, but Stephen Curry and Durant were too much for them.

Every time the Warriors win, there seems to be an excuse of some kind. Lately it’s been that a role player’s injury would have prevented the Golden State machine from steamrolling that team. This time, however, the injury argument deserves to be examined.

Now, George Hill and Jusuf Nurkic are really godo players, but they would not have changed the series outcome. They might not have even been enough to steal a single game from Golden State despite an increased resistance. Kawhi Leonard is much better than those two.

Leonard is one of the game’s elite players. He, obviously, makes a difference. But how much of a difference did his injury make in Game 1?

Of course, we’ll never know. The only way to find out is to access footage from an alternate universe where Leonard doesn’t step backwards onto his teammate’s foot and doesn’t re-aggravate that injury. Then, and only then, will we know how this game would have turned out with him on the floor.

Leonard is one of the game’s best players. He is an elite defender and an evolving offensive threat. The Spurs revolve heavily around him on both ends. He’s a much better defender than he is an offensive player, but the Spurs might need him more to put the ball in the basket than they do to get stops.

Curry was starting to warm up. Durant was also getting going just a bit. The defense was playing with more energy.

Golden State was making a patented run. With Leonard, the Spurs probably would have been able to weather the storm better. The game likely still would have been a close one down the stretch.

Would the Spurs have won the game with Leonard? Possibly. Could the Warriors have come back with the two-time Defensive Player of the Year on the floor? Yes. Would a Spurs win have ended a team that has proven it can go into San Antonio and win? No.

What we do know is that Golden State executed down the stretch. Even without Leonard, Gregg Popovich and the Spurs probably should have still held onto the victory. LaMarcus Aldridge just seemed to give up, preferring to settle for difficult fadeaway shots while freezing in double teams.

Leonard makes a difference, yes. But the Warriors are also the better team even if he’s on the floor. They just didn’t play like it for one half after a long layover. Then Curry and Durant proved why they are two of the NBA’s most special players ever.

Hopefully he can play in Game 2. The series would be much better with him healthy and playing. If not, it might be over even quicker than we thought.

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Leonard is very good. Without him, the Spurs don’t sniff the Western Conference Finals. It doesn’t matter that they beat a flawed Houston Rockets team without him, they are better with him on the floor.

The Spurs might have held on. Or they might have blown the lead like they did when the top seed was on the line. Either way, the series was not won or lost in Game 1.

Things would be better if Leonard played.