Toronto defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 101-91 in the Raptors’ home opener on Wednesday. Andrea Bargnani scored 28 points, outdoing the Cavs’ duo at centre of Shaquille O’Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

The former first overall pick shot 11-for-15 from the field and looked to be in sync with his predominantly new teammates.

“I was always saying if Andrea gets going, if he’s scoring the basketball a lot, then we’re going to be tough to beat,” Raptors forward Chris Bosh said to NBA.com.

No less than six Raptors played their first game in a Toronto uniform on Wednesday.

One of the new Raptors is fellow Italian Marco Bellinelli, who put up 10 points on Wednesday. The six-foot-5 guard, acquired from the Golden State Warriors in the off-season, had his contract option exercised on Thursday by Toronto.

Bellinelli is part of a deeper bench for the Raptors this season.

Along with newly acquired Jarrett Jack, Antoine Wright and Rasho Nesterovic, head coach Jay Triano is finding more options and a greater chance for success when the starters take a seat.

Toronto’s defence looked stronger than it had been last season, holding Cleveland to a 35 per cent shooting percentage in Wednesday’s victory.

“That’s what we’ve been working on, that’s all we’ve been talking about, defence, defence, defence,” Bosh said.

It will be the first chance for the full roster to travel together on the road as they face a young Memphis (0-1) squad that may once again be without their answer.

Iverson questionable for Friday night

Allen Iverson, signed in the off-season by the Grizzlies, is nursing a hamstring injury and did not play in his team’s 96-74 season-opening loss to the Detroit Pistons. He is questionable for Friday’s tilt.

The 2000-01 league MVP spent last season with the Denver Nuggets and Detroit before choosing to come to a team that finished 12th in the Western Conference in 2008-09 with a 24-58 record.

Memphis has a youthful team, with 11 players aged 24 or younger.

The squad is building through their youth, with Rudy Gay, Marc Gasol, O.J. Mayo and Mike Conley all seeing significant minutes for the Grizzlies in their first game.

Wednesday night’s game also saw the debuts of Hasheem Thabeet and Sam Young, both coming off the bench.

Thabeet, the 2nd overall pick from the 2009 Entry Draft, saw just over 12 minutes of action, pulling in a pair of rebounds and two fouls. Young, a six-foot-six product from Pittsburgh, struggled at times, turning over the ball thrice in nine minutes of work.

Toronto and Memphis split their season series last year. The Raptors were victorious at home in January with a 103-82 decision, and the Grizzlies returned the favour a month later, winning 78-70.

Following the game, the Raptors will return back home to face Vince Carter’s new team, the Orlando Magic, on Sunday. Memphis follows Friday’s contest with a five-game western road trip.

The Raptors hope to improve on a 33-49 campaign last year that earned them a 13th place finish in the Eastern Conference.

If Toronto wants to get back to the playoffs after its one-year absence, they’ll need to beat out some of the bubble teams to do so.

Beyond the three clear favourites, things are wide open for the final five post-season spots. The conference breaks down as follows:

The Big Three

1. Cleveland Cavaliers — In a tight three-horse race, the team with the best player can win out. LeBron James helped his squad to the number one seed last season and the additions of Shaquille O’Neal and Anthony Parker are upgrades over Ben Wallace and Trevor Ariza.

2. Boston Celtics — The second-round loss to Orlando hurt. Having to play a marathon seven-gamer against Chicago in the first round didn’t help either. They may have the best starting five in the NBA, with scoring, rebounding and defence out on the court in any crucial situation.

3. Orlando Magic — After losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the finals last year, there wasn’t much tinkering done in Orlando. Vince Carter enters where Hedo Turkoglu exits, but unless the Magic play Toronto (and they might), Turkoglu is considered the better clutch player. Vince also plays well against his former club.

Second Round Possibles

4. Atlanta Hawks — The Hawks won their first playoff series in a decade last year before being blown away by the Cavaliers in round two. The addition of scorer Jamal Crawford in the off-season should help, and a year older and wiser might help them advance in the playoffs.

5. Miami Heat — Last season saw Miami start turning things back around. Having one of the NBA’s elite in Dwayne Wade along with some burgeoning young talent in Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers will hold them in good stead. The addition of Quentin Richardson should only help for ball distribution.

6. Toronto Raptors — It’s a brand new team in Toronto as they attempt to shake away the cobwebs of a losing season. Turkoglu gives the Raptors another weapon alongside all-star Chris Bosh. If the new pieces gel well, the team could not only be a post-season lock, but might be able to avoid the big three in round one.

Playoff Potential

7. Chicago Bulls — The young team nearly shocked the basketball world when taking Boston to a seventh game last season. Losing Ben Gordon will hurt their team, but youngsters like Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas still have a lot to give to this squad.

8. Washington Wizards — While it would seem an egregious claim to put a team with 19 wins the season before in the playoff picture, a healthy Gilbert Arenas will really make a big difference. Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison help lead a supporting cast as Washington tries to get back to where it was a year ago.

9. Detroit Pistons — Although the addition of Ben Gordon will help this team, they really haven’t done enough compared to the rest of the conference to be guaranteed a playoff spot. Former Raptor Charlie Villaneuva could develop into a less erratic version of Rasheed Wallace.

10. Philadelphia 76ers — Elton Brand and Andre Iguodala will really have their work cut out for them. The departure of Andre Miller means that they’ll be lacking a veteran passing presence at guard. Louis Williams just doesn’t fit that mold.

11. Indiana Pacers — This team needs a healthy Mike Dunleavy back if they want to compete. One of their most intriguing young pieces, Jarrett Jack, went to Toronto for nothing in return. Indiana has scorers and defenders, but in different bodies, so unless they can make line changes, the Pacers likely won’t reach the post-season.

Cannon Fodder

12. Charlotte Bobcats — Any team coached by Larry Brown has to be good eventually. Is Tyson Chandler an upgrade from Emeka Okafor? Possibly, if he can stay healthy. The team is going to likely have to buy into a defensive system given their lack of potential scoring.

13. New York Knicks — The 2009 Knicks will be remembered … well, by no one really. They’re just waiting for the 2010 off-season to load up on stars. In the meantime, maybe Jared Jeffries and Eddy Curry can at least show they may be worthwhile enough despite over-sized contracts to try and garner some trade value.

14. Milwaukee Bucks — Brandon Jennings will be an intriguing addition to this team that was forced to trade away a few pricey players in the off-season. Do they look to deal off Michael Redd for someone with potential, or try to keep him long-term and hope that he’ll help Andrew Bogut and Jennings get this team back to respectability?

15. New Jersey Nets — It’s hard to know at the end of the year whether they’ll be the New Jersey Nets or the Brooklyn Nets. Wherever they wind up, at least there are a few good pieces in place for the future. Brook Lopez, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Yi Jianlian may be real ballplayers down the road.

Anthony Burnett added 14 as the Colts, playing their home games this season at Bill Crothers High School, improved to 1-1 with the win.

It was a role reversal for Centennial from last week’s loss, as this time they dominated the first half en route to victory.

“Their guards weren’t very strong on the ball, so when we pressured them, they turned it over,” Centennial head coach Jim Barclay said.

“We also had a lot better of an offensive game [than last week]. We shot the ball better. Better defence, better offence makes for a better game.”

Centennial took control of the contest early on, going on a 14-4 run to start the game. The Lancers fought back with a 12-4 streak of their own to bring it to within two, but it wouldn’t last long.

Eldridge Masuka hit a three-pointer to up the lead to 21-16 and moments later, he stole the ball and reached around a trio of defenders to set up Christian Casimier, who easily made the basket.

Those strong plays led the Colts on a 22-2 run that spanned seven and a half minutes to put them up 43-21 at the half. The smaller but quicker Centennial squad used the fast break to its advantage.

“I look at us as being generally faster than their team, so if they’re going to make turnovers, we’ll push the ball and try and get a good shot,” Barclay said.

“A few turnovers, a few fast-breaks, nothing wrong with the running game.”

Oneil Lawrence led Loyalist scorers with 12 points and Trevor Mayer added 10. Rakeem Reynolds chipped in with nine, his contributions coming almost exclusively from the free-throw line.

“Last time we played them, [Mayer] really hurt us badly,” Barclay said. “So this time, we really matched on him when he was in the game to try and take him out of the game.”

The Colts continued to have a balanced attack led by Bell, who made six field goals, all of them from beyond the arc.

As the team pulled into a big second half lead, many of the bench players saw more minutes. 10 different Colts figured into the stat sheet on the night.

Despite the sound victory, Barclay was not letting his charges lapse mentally. During the game he continued to emphasize good team play, and to avoid any kind of showboating.

The only acceptable form of highlight reel material was Immanuel Wint’s first half dunk, a play that energized his teammates.

And even with a 23-point victory on Wednesday night, Barclay knows his team still needs to get better.

“There’s lots of things we need improvement on,” Barclay said. “We still have to play better defence, cut down on the hacking fouls, and rebound better.

“To be good, we have to improve at everything.”

Last year’s first-team all-star connected on eight three-pointers as Duran dictated play for most of the night.

It was his play and fellow 2009 all-star Jermaine Duke that had Barclay’s team reeling at times.

“It’s our first game [and] they’re an experienced playoff team,” Barclay said. “They’re probably ranked first or second in our division.”

Jovain Wilson added 21 points and Duke blocked four shots for the Knights on the way to their victory.

Guard Andre Bell led the Colts with 17 points, as part of a balanced Centennial attack.

But it was two large runs by Fleming in the first half that set the game on its course.

The Knights began the contest on a 15-0 run and Barclay called two time-outs during that stretch, but it didn’t help. Not until 3:38 into the game did Centennial find the basket for the first time. 

After the Colts went on a 17-4 run of their own to bring the game to within two, the Knights put together a 23-1 stretch that had them leading 42-18 at one point.

Without those two runs by Fleming, Centennial outscored the Knights.

“If it wasn’t for the bad start, the first five or six minutes, and about seven or eight minutes just before halftime, we’re in it.” Barclay said.

Passing skills strong

Fleming kept their starters in for most of the game, and their superior passing skills left Barclay’s defence in a knot.

“They got way too many second chances on us,” Barclay said. “[They had] guys driving right to the basket without anybody stepping up, that hurt.

“We blocked one or two shots and they blocked about eight. It makes a big difference.”

Six different Knights hit three-pointers, as the team connected on 17 over the evening.

“They have some very fine shooters, and even though we talked about not letting those guys get open, talking about it and execution is not always the same thing,” Barclay said.

“They get excited about doing something, and they’re supposed to stay there and see something happen. They go away and the ball comes back.

“If they’d stayed there like we told them to, [Fleming] wouldn’t have gotten that many shots on us.”

Wilson led the Knights from the foul line, going seven-for-8, all in the first half. Both teams went 10-for-16 for 63 per cent at the charity stripe.

Second half dunk

The highlight of the second half was Wilson’s slam dunk, where he got just high enough on a clean break to drop the ball in.

Teammate Orlando Palmer had a longer hang-time, but did so without the ball and consequently was given a foul.

Bell started the Colts on the right track in the second half, nailing a three-pointer. He scored a pair of free throws shortly after, but a defensive breakdown led to an 11-0 run by Fleming that quashed any comeback hopes for Centennial.

Fleming led 50-29 at half-time.

Other than the first half run, Centennial didn’t have any large scoring spurts. Fleming continued a steady stream of putting points on the board, not allowing the Colts to get back into the game.