Raptors-Cavaliers Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Dec 24 2011 7:59PM

Eight years after Cleveland picked LeBron James first overall in the draft and 17 months removed from James' infamous "Decision," there is hope Kyrie Irving may be the piece the Cavaliers can rebuild around.

Irving will make his debut as the Cavs open the season Monday night at Quicken Loans Arena against another lottery team in the Toronto Raptors.

After five straight playoff appearances with James, including an NBA finals berth in 2007, Cleveland plummeted to 19-63 - the NBA's second-worst record - last season in the wake of James' departure for Miami.

The mood quickly changed thanks to Irving, the first overall pick after Cleveland won the draft lottery with a previously acquired Los Angeles Clippers pick.

Irving played only 11 games for Duke because of a foot injury, but the 19-year-old point guard is poised to take over as the Cavaliers' starter right away after the team waived Baron Davis.

Irving scored 21 points and had six rebounds coming off the bench in his first preseason game, but shot 34.6 percent in the two warmups to show he still has room to grow.

"Every day I see glimpses of what this kid can do," coach Byron Scott said. "Then maybe 10 minutes later, he'll show me he's still a rookie. It brings a smile to my face, though, because we've got a good one."

The Cavaliers are also excited about 6-foot-9 forward Tristan Thompson, the fourth overall pick in the draft out of Texas.

However, Cleveland's second selection isn't expected to have as big a role as Irving - at least not yet. While Thompson develops, veteran Antawn Jamison and newcomer Omri Casspi figure to start alongside center Anderson Varejao in the frontcourt.

While Cleveland has high hopes for its rookies, growing pains are a near certainty with an otherwise unspectacular roster. Still, Irving likes the idea of being a player the Cavaliers can build around and one that will hopefully stick around - unlike James.

"I really want to be the cornerstone," he said, "the piece of the team that they build around and have a lot of great players around."

Like Cleveland, Toronto also saw the bottom fall out last season after Chris Bosh joined James in Miami. The Raptors went 22-60, suffering through their worst season since 1997-98.

They begin 2011-12 with a new coach in Dwane Casey, who coached Minnesota for two years and was an assistant on Dallas' title-winning team last season. He brings a defensive-minded philosophy to the Raptors, who gave up 105.4 points per game in 2010-11 - 26th in the NBA.

Ultimately, that could lead to some turnover in Toronto, but the Raptors have several pieces they hope to build around, including a talented backcourt in DeMar DeRozan and Jose Calderon.

Calderon averaged 9.8 points and 8.9 assists last season, but shot 44.0 percent, the worst since his rookie season. DeRozan is entering his third year in the league, having doubled his rookie scoring average to put up 17.2 points per game last season.

The wild card could be Andrea Bargnani, who is being shifted from center to forward in hopes of improving his rebounding. The Italian 7-footer averaged a career-best 21.4 points last season, but only 5.2 rebounds.

Unlike Cleveland, the Raptors will be without their lottery pick. Jonas Valanciunas, the fifth overall selection out of Lithuania, will play an additional season overseas.

The Raptors are trying to balance fielding a competitive team now and building toward bigger success in the future.

"I want to win, to compete and build," Casey said. "(But) we have so many fundamentals that are lacking to even be thinking about the playoffs ... or being a top-tiered team. We have so many young guys, that's where we're at ... building."

Toronto won two of three against the Cavaliers last season.

Irving struggles as Raptors rip Cavs 104-96

By TOM WITHERS
Posted Dec 26 2011 11:08PM

CLEVELAND (AP) Kyrie Irving didn't dwell over his dubious debut for more than a minute.

Life in the NBA moves too quickly for reflection.

"It's on to the next one," he said. "To survive in this game you have to have that attitude."

Cleveland's rookie guard scored just six points and hardly played like the No. 1 overall pick as the Toronto Raptors spoiled Irving's entrance into the pros with a 104-96 season-opening win over the Cavaliers on Monday night.

Irving, who played just 11 games as a freshman at Duke before leaving, finished just 2 of 12 from the field - he made a meaningless 3-pointer in the final minute - with seven assists and one turnover in 26 minutes. The Cavs are counting on the 19-year-old to turn around a team that won just 19 games last season.

"It's disappointing," Irving said. "You want to play really well when the whole world is watching. It's a learning process."

Toronto, which went only 22-60 last season, won its first game under coach Dwane Casey. He was an assistant last season for the champion Dallas Mavericks.

DeMar DeRozan scored nine of his 15 points in the fourth for Toronto, which had seven players score in double figures. Jose Calderon scored 15 points with 11 assists, Amir Johnson had 13 points and 13 rebounds, Leandro Barbosa scored 14 and Andrea Bargnani 13.

"It's one game," Casey said. "I don't want to get too excited on wins and I don't want to get too upset on losses. There are 65 more games."

Ramon Sessions led the Cavaliers with 18 and rookie Tristan Thompson, taken three picks after Cleveland selected Irving, added 12.

Alonzo Gee had 15 points and Anderson Varejao 14 points and 10 rebounds for Cleveland, which pulled within 82-80 on Daniel Gibson's layup with nine minutes left, igniting a crowd at Quicken Loans Arena hoping to see the Irving era start with a win.

But DeRozan came up big down the stretch, scoring nine points in the final six minutes. His jumper from the right corner put the Cavs away in the final minute. Toronto seemed to make the right pass whenever it needed one, and more often than not, the shot went in.

"This is not a democracy offensively," Casey said. "We want to make sure we get the ball where we want it to go. This is not a my-turn game. It's not a rec league game. We want to make sure our offensive players who are closers get the basketball."

Although it was assumed Irving would start, Cavs coach Byron Scott didn't inform the youngster that he would be on the floor for the opening tip until the morning shootaround. Scott broke the news to Irving by telling him to "put on a red (practice) jersey on." Cleveland's starters wear wine-colored tops during practice.

Scott offered Irving some advice before his first game as a pro.

"I told him to relax and have fun," Scott said. "You only get to do this once, where it's your first NBA game. I told him to enjoy the moment, but when that ball gets thrown up to get back to business."

Afterward, Scott wasn't disappointed with his young point guard.

"He looked OK," Scott said. "For playing in what was probably his fifth game in a year, he looked all right. He had seven assists and one turnover. The only thing he didn't do was shoot the ball well. Other than that, I thought he did a pretty good job."

Irving didn't fare as well as some of the league's top point guards in their openers. Last year's top pick, John Wall, scored 14 with nine assists for Washington. MVP Derrick Rose had 11 and nine assists in 2008 and Chris Paul scored 13 with eight rebounds in 2005.

Irving didn't show any nerves before tip-off. He popped on large headphones and listened to music while sitting in a chair in front of his locker.

It was only when he got on the floor that Irving seemed a little overwhelmed. He started slowly, missing his first three shots and didn't score his first point until making a technical with 3:50 left in the first half. He scored his first field goal five seconds later, banking in a runner from the right side.

But he forced other shots and the Raptors never let him get into a rhythm.

"I was a little bit too tentative out there and thinking about my shot," Irving said. "I have to push through it mentally and physically."

Irving was mostly unfazed by the loss. He spoke matter of factly about what went wrong and was already looking forward to Cleveland's next game - at Detroit on Wednesday.

"It's just one game." Irving said. "We're 0-1 and we've got 65 games to go. It's a learning process for me."

Notes: Gee survived a spectacular crash after a dunk that was waved off in the second quarter. Gee threw the ball down - he was called for traveling - grabbed the rim, and nearly did a backward flip before landing on his neck and shoulders. He got up, brushed himself off and went back on defense. Even LeBron James tweeted "Ouch!!" after watching Gee's tumble. "Oh my God," Varejao said. "That was scary," ... Toronto backup C Aaron Gray was kept out as a precaution because of a rapid heart rate. Gray, who signed with the Raptors as a free agent when camp opened, may visit a specialist at the Cleveland Clinic while the team is in town. ... Toronto F Jamaal Magloire is the Raptors' first Canadian-born player. ... Cleveland's home opener was not sold out for the first time since 2004.

Raptors-Cavaliers notebook

By Brian Dulik, for NBA.com
Posted Tuesday December 27, 2011 12:20AM

THE FACTS: Point guard Jose Calderon and shooting guard DeMar DeRozan scored 15 points apiece, leading the Toronto Raptors to a 104-96 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Calderon also dished out a game-high 11 assists and grabbed six rebounds in decisively outplaying Cleveland counterpart Kyrie Irving, the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft, who had six points and seven assists in his professional debut. It was the season opener for both teams.

QUOTABLE: "Everybody who stepped on the floor contributed in some way or another. I liked what I saw tonight, but this is a process. The good thing is we've got 65 more games to find out how far we can go."
-- Raptors head coach Dwane Casey

THE STAT: Toronto recorded 35 assists on its 42 field goals -- an especially impressive feat on the road. All 10 Raptors had at least one helper in the first half, while nine of them finished with two or more. Calderon led the way with 11, followed by small forward James Johnson's five and shooting guard Leandro Barbosa's four. "I always say, 'Trust the pass,' and my guys did," Casey said. "They trusted each other, and found the open man."

TURNING POINT: DeRozan scored six straight Raptors points midway through the fourth quarter after Cleveland had cut its deficit to 88-85. He buried 17- and 21-footers in the faces of defenders, then finished his personal run by cutting to the hoop for a layup. The Cavaliers never got closer than five points the rest of the way. "I was just finishing," DeRozan said. "Coach called my name and said, 'Hey, go out there and do what you have to do to finish this game.'"

QUOTABLE II: "Obviously, that was not the start we wanted to get off to. We can't afford, as a team, to dig ourselves a hole, be down double digits, and expect to come back."
-- Cavaliers head coach Byron Scott.

HOT: Raptors center Amir Johnson had 13 points, a game-high 13 rebounds, three assists, and three blocked shots. He also displayed great chemistry on lobs with Calderon. "Amir did a great job, really as much as you can, against a great player like (Anderson) Varejao," Casey said.

Toronto power forward Ed Davis was a perfect 7-of-7 shooting. ... Cavaliers power forward Tristan Thompson -- the No. 4 overall pick in the NBA Draft -- had 12 points and five boards in 17 strong minutes off the bench. "Tristan was all over the court, very active for us," Varejao said.

NOT: Former Duke standout Irving missed nine of his first 10 shots en route to finishing 2-of-12 from the field. He was 1-of-5 on 3-pointers and 1-of-1 from the foul line, but only committed one turnover in 26 minutes. "The only thing he didn't do well is shoot the ball," Scott said. ... In eight first-half minutes, Cavaliers center Ryan Hollins missed two dunks and had a third possible slam rejected at the rim by Toronto's Jamaal Magloire. ... Power forward Omri Casspi misfired on all four of his field goal attempts in his first game with Cleveland.

QUOTABLE III: "This was a tough game for all of us. We didn't play well. But give Toronto credit, they made some big shots and got the defensive stops when they needed them."
-- Cavaliers center Anderson Varejao

GOOD MOVE: Casey started Rasual Butler at small forward, but opted to ride backup James Johnson for 36-plus minutes at the spot. The ultra-athletic Johnson responded in a variety of ways, collecting five points, six rebounds, five assists, two steals, and three blocked shots. Butler only logged 12 minutes because of foul trouble, scoring three points.

BAD MOVE: Cavaliers power forward Antawn Jamison was out of sync all evening, but Scott opted to put him in for Thompson at the 8:35 mark of the fourth. Jamison finished the game, but didn't record a rebound, assist, steal or blocked shot as Cleveland was outscored 20-16. He wound up 6-of-20 on field goal attempts and was even less effective on defense.

NOTABLE: Point guard Ramon Sessions scored a game-high 18 points with six assists in a reserve role for the Cavaliers, while Varejao had 14 points and a team-best 10 rebounds. ... Magloire became the first native of Canada to play in a regular season game for the Raptors... All nine of Toronto's nine blocked shots came in the first half. ... Cleveland drew a sellout crowd of 20,562 to its home opener at Quicken Loans Arena. ... The Raptors' Anthony Carter, Solomon Alabi and Gary Forbes, and the Cavaliers' Samardo Samuels, Christian Eyenga and Luke Harangody all dressed, but did not play.

UP NEXT: For the Raptors, Wednesday vs. Indiana, Friday @ Dallas, Sunday @ Orlando. For the Cavaliers, Wednesday @ Detroit, Friday @ Indiana, Sunday vs. New Jersey.

• Raptors: Gray, Kleiza
• Cavaliers: Erden, Thompson

• Raptors: --
• Cavaliers: --

• Lead Changes: 4
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH
• Officials: #13 Monty McCutchen, #12 Violet Palmer, #72 J.T. Orr
• Attendance: 20562
• Duration: 2:07