Amount of times Toronto’s old Kawhi Leonard has scored 33 points or more this season: 1.
Amount of times Toronto’s new Kawhi Leonard has scored 33 points or more this season: 1.
I may have, in previous writings, alternatively described either OG Anunoby or Terence Davis as the “new Kawhi Leonard”. I want to apologize for my inaccuracy regarding the matter, because clearly the new Kawhi Leonard in Toronto is Norman Powell. This is my final statement on the matter. No more clarification is needed. Anunoby and Davis will have to settle for being the new Morris Peterson and Andrea Bargnani, respectively.
For real though, Powell is stepping up nicely this year. He’s playing way more minutes than ever in the absence of a certain “superstar”, and even with these big minutes he never needs his load managed. Slowly but surely, he’s transforming from a “Bucks Killer” to a “League Killer”, as evidenced by this career-high 33-point performance against a team that is definitely not the Bucks.
Sidenote: I often identify opposing teams by the court that is being played on, and watching this one, I just assumed the Raptors were at home because of orange everything is. The Magic organization has a lot to answer for with regards to this Halloween-esque monstrosity.
Sidenote part 2: I’m sorry that I didn’t write a story where Powell is welcomed into the mystical “Hall of the Thirty Point Scorers” where he is greeted by keeper of the hall and Raptors legend Carlos Delfino, but he already scored 30 (in his rookie year), so he’s already well-acquainted with the hall.
Sidenote 3: Man, Pascal Siakam really sucked tonight. Raptors fans will claim he still had a positive impact on the game, but there is no defending 4-for-22 shooting. Powell picked a very good night to step up, a night where he was forced to score over a third of his team’s points because of how much booty everyone else was licking.