Career-high 55 points by Kawhi Leonard torches the Hawks on the road.

Kawhi Leonard was a man on a mission tonight.

Kawhi Leonard ruthlessly scored 55 points in San Antonio's visit to the ATL, propelling his team to a 132-119 convincing victory. The pro-Hawks crowd even started rooting for Leonard in the 3rd quarter, as the Spurs outscored the Hawks 46-37 as nearly every shot by Kawhi either splashed in or got him to the charity stripe (12-13 FT%). He had 7 assists and 4 steals as well, shooting 18-32 in FG% and 7-15 from 3PT range.

Coach Popovich pulled him out midway through the final quarter, letting Jeremy Lamb finish with 19 points and 5 assists. Rudy Gay had a resilient showing with 16 points. Pau Gasol had 11 points with 8 rebounds and Josh Smith came in for ten-and-nine. The Hawks crumbled to the opposition, as Dennis Schroder went 5-12 for 13 points and 11 assists; Kent Bazemore was cold for 5-18 FG%. Former Spur Dewayne Dedmon did yank 24 rebounds with 9 points, however.

After the game, Coach Popovich celebrated with Kawhi Leonard and told reporters, "He's the absolute best player in the league right now, in case you missed the last 48 minutes." Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said, exasperated, "The thing that just makes Kawhi different is I just don't know many possessions that he takes off because he plays both ends of the floor so well. And his conditioning is like nothing I've ever seen. He just keeps coming and keeps coming and keeps coming and he finds a way to make a play, a winning play, whether it's a steal, a block, a rebound, a drive, pass."

"I wasn't going to let us lose three straight," Kawhi said after the game.