Winning that game was bigger than just 1 win for the season.

[SCF99]

Sheet it feels good to be in first...lol....I wonder if the little boys and girls are panicing on the Cavs board they haven't looked to good the first to games....it sure makes me wonder how the cavs figured they better themselves by adding 2 of our not so elite players,,and shak is shak just not the shak i remember. Could you imagine the finger point that would be going on if we had lost this game, so yes it was important to win the first game

[J Dilla]

First 10 games, I never count them.

It seems to me every year whenever the Leafs or Raps win their first game, the fans and media always feel that "this will be the year."

IIRC, we whipped Houston's ass in a home opener and Loren Woods had a very good game. People were convinced he was our starting C and he played really well in that 3-0 start. Where's Loren now?

Last year we whooped Philly's ass but 5-6 games later they came back and destroyed us.

I'm just hoping the Raptors group isn't cocky like last year when they were 3-0 and went downhill from there. Its a long ass season, 81 games.

[Vorticity]

it was somwwhat important, but not as important as beating the Magic on Sunday, I'm dying to see how they're going to fare against the new look Orlando.

[dinosaur_dan]

Winning this game is good for the team, sure. But, the Raps went 3-0 to start last season. What really helps a team is a stretch where they go 9-2 or something like. They start to get that confidence that they can win every single night. Right now the morale is high, and the team is feeling great, but a loss to memphis and orlando, and suddenly the raps are 1-2, on a losing streak, and the win over the Cavs will be a distant memory. Let's win some more games before we get too excited.

Also, Cleveland was very out of sorts. They seemed very surprised to come into Toronto and get a game. Especially early, they just seemed shell-shocked. In the NBA, you only have a couple games to sneak up on teams. NBA players pay attention to who is getting Ws, and you can be damn sure that advance scouts are paying attention.

[a_dub]

IMO, the Cavs don't seem the same this season.

Any reasons why??

[JYD]

I agree with the OP. We have a fairly new coach with a lot of new personnel, so this win does do something to help the players buy into what JT is selling. His defensive strategy was effective playing the team with the most dominant player in the league, and while Shaq looks like crap now, he's still a handful for our forwards.

And the offense got open looks at will against one of the better defensive clubs, so on both ends of the floor I think the win will be beneficial in terms of speeding up the gelling process.