GAME #1: Cleveland Cavaliers 104 - Toronto Raptors 116 (1-0)

[Nilanka]

Bit of an ugly game, but we still looked strong at times. Can tell the team is still trying to figure things out on both ends.

But hey, I'll take the W. Good warmup for Friday.

[LJ2]

A win is a win. Entertaining game, but I felt like we lacked flow and rhythm. You can see that guys are still learning each others tendencies out there.

Lowry was the star of the game. I tense up every time he puts up a shot early in the shot clock or one of those pull up's out of nowhere...like he wants every shot to be a back breaker for the other team. But when that shot is dropping he is spectacular.

Kawhi flashing signs of how good he can be. Rusty and didn't finish some easy ones, but he got so many moves inside and goes up so strong. No wasted movement, no extra dribbles just really efficient.

Siakam was really good at attacking the defence in this game. I wasn't sure how they would use him after watching those summer videos. But he was doing exactly what he did in those vids. Pushed the ball and got into the lane.

JV, FVV and OG were solid as expected. They could have used OG more to secure boards though. Just don't see how a big body like him doesn't secure any boards.

Green is like what I imagined Miles would be, but way more consistent and way better man to man defence

Ibaka had good energy, but was outmatched against Thompson. Just couldn't keep TT off the boards. His shots weren't falling either which made things much worse. Going to hold off on giving an opinion on whether he should be starting, coming off the bench or closing games for now. If Ibaka is playing up to his potential and skill set then he's our best option at PF/C against the teams we will be contending with for a championship. It's important to get him going, and early in the season is the time to do it. If he's not capable of it then now is the time to find out.

[saints91]

Sorry I haven’t had time to read the past posts yet.

The biggest take away for me last night is.... Kawhi doesn’t need to dominate the ball to get 24 points. Huge difference from DD!

I’m a bit worried about Serg. He’s gotta stop trying to drive, or create off the dribble. A couple dumb over the back calls when the Cavs were obviously in the bonus. He has to play smarter.

Amazing games by Siakam and Lowry!!!

Loved the game so much I watched it twice.

[planetmars]

Great to have real basketball back again. Few takeaways from game 1 (which of course has to be taken with a grain of salt)..

Kawhi was great. He'll need at least 10-15 games to get back into his efficient-like performances he had in SA, but I see him getting there. 13 boards! I can't remember the last time DeMar grabbed 13 boards.

KLOE showed up! He was all over the court. Easily the best player on the floor.

I like what I saw out of OG, Siakam, JV and Green. Didn't like that JV only had 20 minutes. JV >>> Serge on this team.

We don't have a bench mob anymore.. or at least we didn't in game 1. Too much Kyle and Kawhi (36 and 37 minutes respectively). That can lead to burn out.. especially for Kyle. Hopefully that's not going to be a norm. We need fresh Lowry for the playoffs.

Defensively we could have been a lot better. But our front court defense is going to be our Achilles heel. JV is pretty good with big centers.. but Tristan and Love are just so tough for our guys. Thankfully there aren't that many teams that play small or have their PF be their best player.

Hopefully OG and Delon will be available against Boston. Especially OG. He did a pretty good job on Tatum last year.

Glad to get the first win out of the way. Friday is going to be a lot of fun.. can't wait.

[saints91]

I feel like the refs will calm down a bit as the season goes on. We were called for a ton of fouls, but I love the aggression and the way guys were disrupting the drives and passing lanes. The technique will improve a bit and the refs will taper their calls.

It’s amazing to see perimeter defenders! Gotta clean up the close outs a wee bit.

[saints91]

Bring on Boston!!!!

[LJ2]

And we're all over ESPN too. Wonder how long that will last?

[white men can't jump]

I feel like the refs will calm down a bit as the season goes on. We were called for a ton of fouls, but I love the aggression and the way guys were disrupting the drives and passing lanes. The technique will improve a bit and the refs will taper their calls.

It’s amazing to see perimeter defenders! Gotta clean up the close outs a wee bit.

Honestly it was the kind of reffing that makes you wonder about refs betting.

I noticed a lot of the questionable calls that kept Cleveland in it were made by one ref. What was the spread on this? 8.5 or 9.5 or something like that? Cleveland got a lot of calls that helped them try to keep it to 10 or cut it to single digits. Meanwhile Kawhi got absolutely mugged a couple of times and couldn't get to the line.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[S.R.]

Bit of an ugly game, but we still looked strong at times. Can tell the team is still trying to figure things out on both ends.

But hey, I'll take the W. Good warmup for Friday.

Yeah, it was the first game of the year. I don't know how many people here also watched Boston, GSW, Houston etc. in their first games, but there's lots of rust and irregularities all around. We want everything to be absolutely perfect the first 48 minutes of the season - it's not.

Wait a few games to start drawing real conclusions anyway, but especially when your team has 2 new starters and a new best player. This is going to take a bit of time.

Ignoring my own advice because it's really a carry over from the end of last season, I'm kind of concerned Serge "Senior's Menu" Ibaka might just suck at this point in his career. Hopefully he finds his legs here and is still generally productive in a defined role. He should be able to do that.

[JimiCliff]

Decent game!

- I already love the perimeter D. They manufactured steals at will

- I get a very strong 'Other than Kawhi, we're looking for 3s or layups/dunks only' vibe from the offence.

- Our roster is *deep*.

[DogeLover1234]

Great to have real basketball back again. Few takeaways from game 1 (which of course has to be taken with a grain of salt)..

Kawhi was great. He'll need at least 10-15 games to get back into his efficient-like performances he had in SA, but I see him getting there. 13 boards! I can't remember the last time DeMar grabbed 13 boards.

KLOE showed up! He was all over the court. Easily the best player on the floor.

I like what I saw out of OG, Siakam, JV and Green. Didn't like that JV only had 20 minutes. JV >>> Serge on this team.

We don't have a bench mob anymore.. or at least we didn't in game 1. Too much Kyle and Kawhi (36 and 37 minutes respectively). That can lead to burn out.. especially for Kyle. Hopefully that's not going to be a norm. We need fresh Lowry for the playoffs.

Defensively we could have been a lot better. But our front court defense is going to be our Achilles heel. JV is pretty good with big centers.. but Tristan and Love are just so tough for our guys. Thankfully there aren't that many teams that play small or have their PF be their best player.

Hopefully OG and Delon will be available against Boston. Especially OG. He did a pretty good job on Tatum last year.

Glad to get the first win out of the way. Friday is going to be a lot of fun.. can't wait.

I agree the bench won't be as exciting as last season, but I think when Delon comes back it will look much better. With him and VV the bench has a lot more ball handling, which it was lacking for stretches.

[Shredder]

With Siakam's better handle this season, I wonder if we ever see the all Defense/Length lineup of Siakam, Green, Kawhi, OG, JV. Not conventional, but would be a handful for most teams.

[KeonClark]

With Siakam's better handle this season, I wonder if we ever see the all Defense/Length lineup of Siakam, Green, Kawhi, OG, JV. Not conventional, but would be a handful for most teams.

Siakam is a good ball handler in short bursts but this team needs Fred or Kyle on the floor at all times or at the very least Wright

[SkywalkerAC]

This team is going to be special.

[Hotshot]

The clown at ESPN chimes in: