Cavs are no longer the owners of the North

Cavs open the new post-LeBron era with loss in Toronto

Kawhi Leonard had 24 points and a team-high 13 rebounds in his Toronto debut, Kyle Lowry scored 27 points and the Raptors beat the Cavaliers 116-104 on Wednesday night in the season-opener for both teams.

Fred VanVleet scored 14 points, Pascal Siakam had 13

and Danny Green 11 as the Raptors won their sixth straight season opener and gave Nick Nurse a victory in his first game as head coach.

Kevin Love scored 21 points and Cedi Osman had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers. Cleveland knocked Toronto out of the playoffs in each of the last three seasons, but faces a struggle this season now that former star LeBron James is with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Leonard played 37 minutes in his first competitive game since January with San Antonio. The two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year was limited to nine games last season because of a quadriceps injury.

Acquired from the Spurs in a July blockbuster that sent fourtime All-Star DeMar DeRozan to San Antonio, Leonard was introduced to a thunderous ovation, the final Raptors starter to have his name announced to the capacity crowd of 19,915.

Lowry led Toronto with eight assists and shot 5-for-6 from 3-point range.

Jordan Clarkson and George Hill each scored 15 points and Rodney Hood had 12 for the Cavaliers,

who trailed by as many as 20.

Cleveland had won 15 of the previous 17 meetings between the teams, including 10 straight postseason games.

Leonard missed his first three shot attempts but

made three of his next four to score a team-high six points in the opening quarter. Lowry and Siakam each scored five in the first as Toronto led 28-25 after one.

Leonard added six more points in the second quarter and Lowry had five as Toronto

made five of 10 from 3-point range to open a 6047 lead at halftime.

Lowry and Leonard each scored nine points in the third, with Lowry making three from long range, as Toronto took a 90-75 lead into the fourth.

NATHAN DENETTE — THE CANADIAN PRESS VIA AP Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton drives towards the basket as Raptors forward Serge Ibaka defends during second half in Toronto on Oct. 17.