Nick Nurse was full of praise for the "phenomenal" Kawhi Leonard after he scored a career-high 45 points in the Toronto Raptors' 122-116 victory over the Utah Jazz.

Leonard stole the show at Scotiabank Arena on New Year's Day, scoring 30 second-half points as the Raptors moved to 28-11 in second spot in the Eastern Conference.

Raptors head coach Nurse hailed Leonard's performance ahead of his return to San Antonio on Thursday for the first time since he was traded by the Spurs.

"He was phenomenal," Nurse said. "Early in the year, he moves to some spaces fairly easily, and he would go 9-for-22 at the end of the night.

"I was just thinking, 'When is he going to go 16-for-22?' because it looked like they were shots he was going to make.

"I have kind of been waiting for one of these nights where he makes them all ... he was great. He is a special, special player, as we all know."

Leonard is relishing coming up against his former employers, with the Raptors eyeing a third consecutive win.

"Yeah, it's going to be fun," he said. "Everybody's anticipating the game. Things like that only get me better for the long run, so it's going to be a good game."