It has been five months since the Toronto Raptors and Cleveland Cavaliers last squared off, but there was considerably less at stake at Air Canada Centre other than whatever bragging rights can be gleaned from the second game of the regular season.
And even then, in a game that was littered by a litany of turnovers and botched offensive assignments, there really was not much left to boast about.
Friday night's game featured the two NBA Eastern Conference finalists from last season and it was the Cavaliers – again – who managed to thwart the Raptors, hanging on for a 94-91 win.
The game was mostly a plodding, disjointed affair where the offences on both sides were playing as though it was early in the season – which it is. The teams committed 18 turnovers each and that, as far as Toronto coach Dwane Casey was concerned, was his team's undoing.
"We got to take care of the ball better," came the coach's lament after all was said and done. "We can't have 18 turnovers because it's a jail break against this (Cavaliers) team."
The Cavaliers grabbed the early lead and doggedly clung to it, giving the impression they could step on the gas almost at will when the Raptors showed signs of mounting a challenge, which wasn't often.
One of those times was late in the fourth after Cleveland icon LeBron James splattered Toronto's Kyle Lowry onto the floor committing a loose-ball foul. Lowry recovered to make one of two free throws, which gave Toronto its first lead, 89-88, with just over two minutes to go.
It wouldn't last as Kyrie Irving, who led Cleveland with 26 points, was found by a James feed all alone up top and he sank a three-pointer with 44.3 seconds left. That moved Cleveland in front 94-91. The Raptors were mostly spent.
"Kyrie makes big shots and LeBron makes big plays," said Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue. "That's the luxury we have with this team."
A last-ditch three-point effort by Toronto's Patrick Patterson as the game clock was dying down was short.
The Cavaliers improved to 2-0 while Toronto fell to 1-1.
DeMar DeRozan led Toronto with 32 points, Lowry had 17. James chipped in with 21 while Cavs teammate Tristan Thompson of Canada added 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Toronto centre Jonas Valanciunas finished with 10 points and a game-high 17 rebounds.
Toronto coach Dwane Casey dismissed any notion that there was a deep philosophical connotation to the first meeting between the teams since they clashed in the Eastern Conference final last May.
For those with feeble memories, the Cavaliers took out Toronto in six rollicking games and then went on to win the NBA final.
For heaven's sake people, Casey was dying to say but only too polite to say it – it is only the second game of the season.
"It's a good game, but it's early in the year," Casey said. "It's too early to say, hey, this is who we are, this is where we are. But a good test for us. I don't know if that makes sense for you but that's kind of where it is.
"It's not the end of the world or the beginning of the world, either."
Still, it is the Cavaliers, and they do tend to draw some of the city's leading lights.
Some of the names on hand included Andre De Grasse, Canada's three-time Olympic medalist, sitting courtside; Mark Shapiro, the president and chief executive officer of the Toronto Blue Jays; and Jozy Altidore, a soccer player for Toronto FC.
For the second successive game rookie Pascal Siakam got the start at power forward for Toronto in the absence of Jared Sullinger, who is out for a while after having foot surgery. But he struggled with early foul trouble.
It was a disjointed opening half in which both offences struggled. Cleveland led by nine at one point in the opening quarter.
The Cavaliers extended that lead to 10 in the second quarter before DeMarre Carroll made a nice play under the Toronto basket to save the ball from going out of bounds, flinging it back into play into the accepting grasp of Patterson out on the elbow.
Patterson drained the three and Cleveland's lead was 38-36 and that seemed to stoke the visitors' interest.
The Cavaliers rolled into a 12-4 run after for a 50-40 advantage by halftime.
The turnovers came fast and furious in the third quarter, when Cleveland's lead was carved to 71-67 heading into the fourth.
The Cavaliers only hit on 41.8 per cent of their shots (33 of 79) compared to 38.9 per cent for the Raptors (35 of 90), but that left Casey singing the praises of his defence.
"I thought our defense was solid," Casey said. "Anytime you hold this team to 41 per cent that's good enough. Now we just have to clean up our turnovers, make the shots we take."