Kawhi Leonard shows no signs of rust against Timberwolves

TORONTO – The Timberwolves got a look at the rejuvenated Kawhi Leonard on Wednesday night and Leonard didn't disappoint. The skilled forward showed no signs of rust from missing most of last season from the drama that was his unhappiness with the Spurs.
Leonard scored 35 points on 15 of 23 shooting and added his usual dogged defense in the Raptors 112-105 victory over the Wolves.
"When you have a player like that, it requires your entire team [to defend]," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "It's impossible to guard those guys one on one. … Kawhi can hurt you in the post, hurt you off the dribble and put you in situations in which there's going to be switching involved and you have to react accordingly."
It was Leonard who put any notion of a Wolves comeback to rest late in the fourth quarter. With the Wolves down five, Leonard hit a floater from 11 feet to put the Raptors up 108-101 with 53.7 seconds remaining.
"He does so many things well," Jimmy Butler said. "They feature him in a lot of things and he plays both sides of the ball. When you have a team like they have and a player of his caliber, the game gets really easy for himself and for everybody else."
To Butler, Leonard is back to where he was before his injury. Leonard showcased that during one play, where he seemed to steal a pass from the Wolves with his back turned to the ball.
"He's confident, shooting the ball with confidence. The athleticism is there. He's going to be just fine."
Added Leonard: "I feel good. I'm on the right track."
Josh Okogie watch
Rookie Josh Okogie got the start in place of the injured Andrew Wiggins and had an interesting night. Okogie was 0-for-8 in the first half, but four of those misses came on one sequence around the basket when he couldn't put back his own misses.
They also helped to inflate his rebounding totals. But Okogie found more success in the second half, hitting 4 of 6 shots including a high-flying putback dunk that caused a gasp through Scotiabank Arena. Okogie finished with his first career double-double, 10 points and 11 rebounds.
To Thibodeau, Okogie's night was a net positive for the Wolves.
"He's going to make some mistakes out there, but we see him shoot every day. So we know this guy can shoot," Thibodeau said. "After he got an easy one to go, then he got a good rhythm and it'll slow for him as he goes. The rebounding, his reaction to the ball, his hustle plays, those are things we desperately need."
Lacking in some areas
The Wolves had a season-low 16 free-throw attempts on Wendesday, they also had just 10 fast break points after scoring over 20 in their previous two games.