It was a tough night north of the border as the Cleveland Cavaliers were not able to come away with a win against the Toronto Raptors.
The 4th quarter began with the Cleveland Cavaliers holding on to an eight-point lead and were just 12 minutes away from starting the season on a winning note. Cleveland held a one-point lead until Toronto took over with 3:31 left to play. The Raptors would outscore Cleveland 12-9 over the final few minutes as they handed the Cavaliers a three-point loss. This stretch from Toronto was actually just a small snippet of what they were able to do in the final quarter. Cleveland was outscored 32-21 as they were simply not able to keep up with Toronto.
A big reason for the Cavs loss was an injury which forced Darius Garland to leave the game late in the 2nd quarter. It was revealed after the game that Garland has a laceration on the inside of his eyelid. The absence of Garland for over half of the game was a clear issue for Cleveland. Losing a player as talented as Garland would take down most teams in the NBA and the Cavalier were no exception.
Player notes
Donovan Mitchell was outstanding in his Cavaliers debut, leading Cleveland with 31 points on 12-21 shooting and nine assists. Mitchell was a primary reason why the Cavs were in the game for as long as they were. Without Mitchell the final differential may have been a bit lopsided.
Cavaliers big man Jarrett Allen started the season off on the right foot as he finished with his usual double-double. Allen scored 13 points and grabbed 10 boards in addition to two blocks.
The leading bench scorer and second-highest Cavs scoring effort came from Cedi Osman. Osman had one of his on nights, making six of 12 field goal attempts including 3-6 from downtown.
Second-year star Evan Mobley was the second-highest scoring Cavaliers starter with 14 points on 5-9 from the field. Mobley also had six rebounds, one assists, one steal, and one block.
Kevin Love had a productive night in 21 minutes off the bench. Love totaled eight points, seven rebounds, and two assists for Cleveland.
