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Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard is stopped by the Cavaliers' Sam Dekker.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press

The Kawhi Leonard era began in Toronto Wednesday with the soft-spoken new Raptor being embraced by deafening pregame applause, before he delivered a 24-point, 12-rebound performance in a 116-104 season-opening win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The enigmatic superstar played 37 minutes and shot 9-for-22 in his first game as a Raptor, as the Toronto faithful got its first look at the most fascinating and promising roster the franchise has ever assembled. But it was Kyle Lowry who led Toronto in scoring with 27 points – including five three-pointers – as the revamped Raps topped a Cavaliers squad searching for a new identity after the departure of LeBron James.

It wasn’t a crisp Toronto performance as the revamped squad worked on chemistry, experimented with different five-man rotations and incorporated Leonard, who was playing his first real NBA game since January. But it was still a win.

“It's still early. It's only the first game. We had a lot of mistakes on the defensive end that we could correct, and we've just gotta keep pushing,” said Leonard afterward. “Our offense was also stagnant at some times tonight. But our skill level and focus and us playing really hard tonight got us the win.”

Lowry didn’t get overly excited after his solid opening night performance.

“It’s game one, bro. It’s game one,” said the veteran point guard.

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Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry moves past Cleveland Cavaliers guard David Nwaba to score in the final seconds of the first half of the team's season-opener in Toronto on Wednesday, Oct.17, 2018.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press

The dapper and likable Dwane Casey – or “DC” as in-stadium announcer Mark (Strizzy) Strong used to affectionately introduce him – was no longer patrolling Toronto’s sidelines. He has the most wins of any coach in franchise history.

In his place was Casey’s assistant of the past five seasons, Nick Nurse, now in the big job after Casey’s summer firing and armed with the experiences of a 27-year coaching career – including several head coaching stints under smaller spotlights.

Nurse has been saying the Raptors starting lineups will be fluid this year to capitalize on nightly matchups. Wednesday, he had Kyle Lowry starting at the point, Danny Green at shooting guard, Leonard at small forward, Pascal Siakam at power forward to guard Kevin Love, and Jonas Valanciunas at centre to tangle with Toronto native Tristan Thompson.

To kick off the night, the team was introduced to the beat of a live dancing choir before a packed house decked in free We The North t-shirts. There was no DeMar DeRozan on the team for the first time in a decade, no “De-Bo, from Compton to Canada” hugging teammates and delivering pregame kisses to his young daughters as he always did.

Instead the mightiest show of applause and affection came for the man they announced last – Leonard, the most fascinating addition in Raptors history. He received an ovation so hearty and loud that Strizzy’s hollering of his name into his always ear-splitting stadium microphone was completely drowned out.

The exuberant welcome from the fans continued every time he touched the ball through much of the first quarter. During the first time out, Raptors game-opps wasted no to time getting a “get to know Kawhi” video on the big screen, educating about the new superstar’s love for Mexican food, his home state of California and the music of Kendrick Lamar. It reinforced his nickname: The Klaw. Valanciunas had another description for his new teammate on Wednesday: Silent Killer.

Also interesting to note, the traditional home opener welcoming remarks to the fans was delivered not by one of the Raptors’ well-known returnees, but by Green, the gregarious newcomer.

There were moments beyond Leonard’s fade-away jumpers, easy moves and rebounding that delighted the crowd and showed depth and promise for this team. There was Lowry, slipping back into his floor sergeant role, even without his friend DeRozan on his wing. There was easy sharp-shooting from Norman Powell that may foreshadow a comeback campaign, Green’s three buckets from deep, and a gorgeous sequence that included a no-look behind-the-back pass from Valanciunas to set up a thunderous cutting dunk from OG Anunoby.

These Cavaliers were a shadow of the squad that bulldozed over the Raps in the playoffs behind the remarkable James before he’d skip town for the Los Angeles Lakers. Without the injured J.R Smith and Larry Nance Jr., Wednesday, the Cavs slipped down to the Raps 60-47 by half-time and only got within striking distance late in the fourth quarter. They made the final minutes uncomfortable on the Raps, but never truly threatened.

Nurse was lukewarm on his first victory as an NBA head coach.

“Well I think we saw some spurts of some pretty good play but it wasn’t the prettiest painting,” said Nurse. “It was a lot of whistles and a lot of stoppage. We sent them to the line a little too much, and gave up a little few too many offensive rebounds so it was kind of a stop start game. But there was some really good spurts where we broke it open but yeah, we’ve got some room for improvement, that’s for sure.”

Serge Ibaka went 2-10 from the field coming off the bench at centre, something Nurse said he didn’t mind so much given he was active, especially in the glass. Fred VanVleet shot 3-10 early, then recovered with some later buckets and had 14 points on the night. Nurse liked Pascal Siakam’s energetic 13-point performance.

The Raps went 10 players deep on the night, and were without Delon Wright, who sat with a strained adductor. The way this roster is used each night will continue to fascinate.

The bigger test comes Friday night when the Eastern Conference’s heavy early season favourite Boston Celtics visit Toronto.

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