Drake introduces the Toronto Raptors on Drake Night

Much like the Raptors alternate uniforms of the last eight years or so, they’re black, it’s the trim colour which is new to the franchise. He screened effectively for Lowry, opening up driving lanes, and hammered home a dunk to help seal the win when the Cavaliers made a decision to abandon guarding him whatsoever in selling out to all out double the ball handler instead.

Additionally, to round out Drake night, the Raptors will wear OVO-inspired uniforms and fans will have a chance to get rare OVO/Raptors merchandise while at the game. The team wore them against the Cavaliers on Wednesday night. He remains a force of nature, but he is also, if this makes sense, just a man. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the defense played by another man, DeMarre Carroll. It swung fortunes 16 times. “And we will. But I don’t think we improved tonight”. The guys are finding me on the break and giving me good looks. It’s not an excuse. “It’s just an observation”, noted Blatt.

Cavaliers: Kyrie Irving (knee), Timofey Mozgov (shoulder) and Iman Shumpert (wrist) are all unavailable.

“It’s not an excuse”, he said.

The Raptors went up for good with 7:45 to go in the fourth.

Toronto led 86-84 halfway through the fourth after forward Patrick Patterson made a 3-pointer and DeRozan hit one of two free throws.

These are the adjectives we’ve gotten to when describing the play of LeBron James. “Protecting the paint, talking, being physical, being a deterrent at the rim and that was big for us as far as protecting the paint”. Biyombo being the only real threat on the glass, the Raptors team did a great job to gobble up their rebounds.

“We’re excited about the win, no question”, he said. “It’s early in the season”.

Lowry had 14 points in a third quarter that saw neither team lead by more than five points.

Carroll, who hounded LeBron James all night, said he and Biyombo have “similar mindsets”. They ended the first tied 25-25, and when Terrence Ross drilled a three with 8:24 to go in the second, it put Toronto up 35-25.

Raptors coach, Dwane Casey, praised Lowry for his performance and tagged their win as a “litmus test” for the team as per The Star. Lebron created a wealth of open perimeter looks for his teammates still, but you’re more confident making Jared Cunningham or Mo Williams shoot from outside than you are with Lebron at the rim. He passed Reggie Miller in the second quarter for 18th place on the all-time scoring list. Carmelo Anthony led NY with 28 points and 13 rebounds, and Jose Calderon had 25 points. “It’s either you got it or you don’t”, James said after the game. This will mark the first meeting between the two clubs since February of last season where the Cavs came out with a victory north of the border.