Kawhi Leonard debuts for Raptors in pre-season win in Vancouver

KawhiLeonard's first points as a Toronto Raptor came just over a minute into Saturday's game, when he nimbly sidesteppedAl-FarouqAminuand scored on a jump shot.

They were also the Raptors' first points of their pre-season, a fitting beginning to what Toronto hopes is a long relationship with Leonard, who was acquired in a blockbuster off-season trade.

Leonard had 12 points in the Raptors' 122-104 win over the Portland Trail Blazers in his first game since Jan. 13, and showed glimpses of the greatness MasaiUjiriwas counting on when he shipped belovedDeMarDeRozanto the Spurs for the two-timeNBAdefender of the year.

Leonard makes good impression in debut:

Game Wrap: Kawhi Leonard debuts as Raptors win pre-season opener

6 years ago

Duration 1:30

Kawhi Leonard scored 12 points in his Raptors debut, and Toronto beat the Portland Trail Blazers 122-104 in Vancouver.

"I think everybody saw Kawhi, he was shaking off some rust, right?" said Nick Nurse, who was making his debut as Raptors' head coach. "But you can obviously see the level that he has ... he looks like we're all running around really fast and he gets it and everything goes into slow motion. It's kind of a gift for guys that are as good as him and it's neat to watch, too."

Jonas Valanciunas had 17 points and seven rebounds off the bench to top Toronto, while Kyle Lowry had 15 points, and Fred VanVleet had 11. Pascal Siakam grabbed 13 rebounds.

Meyers Leonard led Portland with 16 points, while Damian Lillard had 12.

Introduced last among the starters "No. 2, you know who!" Leonard played 19 first-half minutes, shooting 3-for-8 from the field and 6-for-11 from the free throw line before taking a seat.

"It's going to take time to get my rhythm, but I felt great being out there and just being able to compete. Just having fun," Leonard said.

There were plenty of positives beyond the box score. Leonard's chemistry with Lowry, who'd been simmering since the DeRozan trade, was virtually instant. A second-quarter fast break saw four crisp passes between the two stars, culminating in a Leonard basket. The bucket was whistled off after a Portland foul, eliciting a loud laugh at the referee from Lowry. But the pretty sequence spoke volumes.

"We're both competitors, we're both trying to win and trying to win big," Lowry said. "So we'll make sure we're on the same page and continue to communicate, continue to talk."

Leonard also showed no signs of the quadriceps injury that sidelined the 27-year-old for all but nine games last season. He went hard to the rim, and on one play drew a foul while falling flat on his back.

"The crowd (in Vancouver) is big and energized and it always seems to give everybody a little bit more spring and fight, both teams," Nurse said. "I think he was just playing off instinct a little bit and he saw gaps and took them and they came pretty hard on some stuff they did."

Part of the NBA Canada Series, the game marked the Raptors' fourth visit to Vancouver, and sold out in less than 20 minutes. The loud Rogers Arena crowd of 18,654 fans was dotted with dozens of Raptors jerseys as well as the odd teal Vancouver Grizzlies jersey and included former Raptors Morris Peterson and Shawn Marion. A group of fans held a huge sign that read: ".VancouverWantsNBA."

Leonard was clearly the star of the night, cheered from the moment he emerged from the Rogers Arena tunnel and applauded after every basket he made in the layup line during warmup.

"It was great," said the Los Angeles native. "They came out and showed support to both teams. The energy was there. They were into the game."

While the combined 76 free-throw attempts said plenty about the sloppiness of the pre-season, the game definitely had its entertaining moments. A gorgeous tic-tac-toe play in particular brought the fans out of their seats. Siakam brought the ball up the floor on the break, found Valanciunas at the top of the key, who in turn launched a crisp pass to Lowry for a three-pointer from the corner.

The Blazers led 33-32 after the first quarter, but thanks in large part to Lowry's 12 second-quarter points, the Raptors outscored Portland by 10 and went into halftime up 64-57.

Toronto led 89-78 after three quarters and Nurse went deep into his bench for the fourth.

Sixteen Raptors played. The one notable absence was sophomore OG Anunoby, who wasn't with the team due to personal reasons.

The Raptors play in Utah on Tuesday, then return home to host Melbourne United of Australia's National Basketball League on Friday. They'll host the Brooklyn Nets at Montreal's Bell Centre on Oct. 10.

Toronto opens the regular season at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Oct. 17.