The key to beating the Spurs is to put Kawhi Leonard in the corner?

Just peep at these On/Off numbers for Kawhi and start scratching your head pic.twitter.com/ayzisDZFPf

— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) December 12, 2016

Hello, operator? Can you patch me through to Brad Stevens? Tell him I have found the secret to beat the Spurs tomorrow night.

Turns out the Spurs are a below average defensive team when Kawhi Leonard – the 2x DPOY – is on the court.

Say what??

This might be the craziest statistic I’ve ever seen. CBS Sports’ Matt Moore took a deep dive into the numbers and after examining game tape came up with this:

Watching the Spurs’ defense, the same pattern emerges. The opponent takes whoever Leonard is guarding to the corner and plays 4 on 4, often to great results. Much of this is because Leonard shares the court with Tony Parker and Pau Gasol, who simply can’t contain in the pick and roll. This is the key component: As good as Leonard is, you can neutralize him. This wasn’t possible in previous years because the rest of the Spurs’ defense was so good. But now, with certain lineups, there are real weaknesses.

So if Jae Crowder finishes the game with 4 points on 3 shots, you’ll know why.

I bet there’s a Felger-and-Mazz type duo in San Antonio crucifying Leonard for these numbers. It’s only slight more stupid than claiming the Celtics offense is better without Isaiah Thomas.