Leonard shoots down Cavaliers

Oct 19, 2018 06:00 am

Kawhi Leonard grabbed 24 points and 13 rebounds and Kyle Lowry had 27 points and eight assists to help the Toronto Raptors defeat the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers 116-104 yesterday in the NBA season opener for both teams.

"It's one game," Leonard said. "I can only see what's in front of me right now... it's about right now and what I need to do to be the best player for the Raptors."

Fred van Vleet added 14 points, while Pascal Siakam finished with 13 as Nick Nurse made his head-coaching debut for the Raptors.

Kevin Love scored 21 points for Cleveland, who are rebuilding after losing LeBron James to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The win was a measure of revenge for Toronto, who were eliminated from the play-offs by Cleveland the last three seasons.

Over in Houston, the NBA's reigning Most Valuable Player James Harden flirted with a triple double, finishing with 18 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. But it wasn't enough as the Houston Rockets lost 131-112 to New Orleans Pelicans at the Toyota Center. - REUTERS, AFP