Raptors mount 4th-quarter comeback to defeat Cavaliers in season opener

Toronto's all-star guard Fred VanVleet addressed delighted fans before tip-off at Wednesday's season opener, telling them: "Let's have some fun."

The Raptors made sure they did.

"It makes tomorrow a lot better and funner; it's just a better spirit and energy," VanVleet said of winning game one. "It's hard to win in this league and you never want to take them for granted."

Gary Trent Jr. added 19 points, while O.G. Anunoby had 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, as the Raptors had six players score in double figures. Scottie Barnes and VanVleet finished with 15 apiece, while Precious Achiuwa chipped in with 10.

Cleveland's prized newcomer Donovan Mitchell led the Cavs with 31 points.

WATCH | Siakam, scoring depth help Raps rally against Cavs:

The Raptors clawed back from an eight-point deficit to start the fourth quarter and when Barnes muscled his way to the hoop and finished with a left-handed layup that coach Nick Nurse called "huge," flexing a celebratory bicep on his way back up the court, the basket tied the game at 92-92 with about seven minutes to play.

"I was happy with [Barnes'] game," Nurse said of last season's rookie of the year. "I thought he competed. That was the main thing, that's all I'm asking."

A steal by VanVleet led to a thunderous dunk from Barnes that brought the Scotiabank Arena crowd to its feet and put Toronto up by one with 3:31 to play. Trent's three-pointer, from in front of Cleveland's bench, made it a four-point game.

A pair of free throws from Caris LeVert sliced the difference to a point with 4.5 seconds left on the clock, but on Toronto's final possession, Barnes spotted a sprinting Achiuwa who sealed the victory with a rim-rattling dunk with 0.7 to play.

"I thought we played both ends like we needed to in the fourth quarter, like we were really digging some things out on defence as well, creating some turnovers, lots of loose balls and things like that," said Nurse. "And then we got pretty good shots most of the time down."

The Cavs, who haven't made the playoffs since 2018, acquired Mitchell in a blockbuster off-season trade with Utah, putting themselves squarely into Eastern Conference contention.

Mitchell called his Cavs debut "tough."

"We didn't do a bunch of things that we can control, turnovers," he said. "That one time we let our guard down, they hit us with a hook in the fourth. It's hard to recover from that."