TORONTO -- Kevin Love was the last player to get out of the shower following the Cleveland Cavaliers' Opening Night loss against the Toronto Raptors.

As his soggy sandals squished across the carpeted floor inside the visitor's locker room at Scotiabank Arena, Love quipped about needing extra time to "wash all the ugliness away" before heading to the team bus and embarking on Cleveland's next challenge.

"That rhythm wasn't there tonight," Love said. "You could tell that game action wasn't there for me tonight. Thought I got a lot of really, really good looks on the offensive end. On the defensive end, just our switches and closing out, my attention to detail wasn't there.

"I told Ty (Lue) after the game, I said, 'That's on me and I apologize.' We all have to be better and I think we know it."

Sitting at the locker LeBron James used to occupy, where the Cavs celebrated numerous playoff victories, Love was left shouldering the blame for a double-digit loss.

That's part of Love's role now. It comes with the territory of being a leader, the new franchise focal point.

Some nights, Love will play like an All-Star, receiving a bulk of the credit. Other nights, just like Wednesday against the revamped Raptors, Love will be forced to accept the criticism. The same happened with James. Although, he rarely had to apologize. He didn't have many off nights.

Love said after the game he felt rusty after missing the final three preseason matchups because of foot soreness. He hadn't played a game since Oct. 2, when he looked in midseason form against the Boston Celtics. It's helped that he's been able to go through five-on-five stuff over the last week or so. But Love -- and Lue -- recognize there's no substitute for game reps.

"I thought it really hurt us Kevin being out of rhythm," Lue said. "He missed about six or seven layups under the basket and just hasn't played since the first game of the preseason. So, that was kind of rough on him and kind of rough on us, but overall I thought we competed and kept fighting and kept scrapping and were a little better in the second half. That's a lesson."

The Cavs were able to take some positives from the loss. They liked the fight shown by the team to cut the Raptors' lead to single digits four different times in the final period. They recognize they can cut down on turnovers after committing 16 of them. They believe the second half, which the Cavs won, 57-56, provided a blueprint for how they need to play all season -- with the kind of fight and dogged determination to overcome some talent deficiencies.

But overall it wasn't the kind of performance needed against a high-powered Raptors squad that believes the East throne can be theirs this season.

Digging an early hole won't work. The Cavs, for all the talk about ball movement and multiple threats on every possession, don't have the weaponry to climb back from a 20-point deficit.

And they can't overcome a dud from Love.

The No. 1 option scored a deceptive 21 points. He shot just 5-of-18 from the field and 1-of-4 from 3-point range. His final box score was aided by his ability to power his way to the free-throw line, where he made 10 of his 14 attempts.

Perhaps it's unfair, but that effort won't be good enough this season. The Cavs' margin for error has shrunken significantly with James gone. So if Love's going to require 18 shots to get 20-plus points, it's going to be a really long year.

"We have to find our identity, we have to find how we are going to play," Love said. "As I said all along we're a team that needs to have that fight, that grittiness and we didn't have it tonight. Started with me and all the way through our lineup. We have to, not going to say like last year where we have to get in better shape because I do feel guys are in a good place, but have to be a team that dictates the pace and most in-shape team every time we play.

"We don't have that luxury of having a LeBron or a magician like Kyrie (Irving) to be a playmaker so we have to have guys that can play halfcourt, fullcourt and on the defensive end be physical."

Beyond Love's inefficiency, the Cavs' overall offensive numbers weren't horrible. They scored at least 25 points in three of the four quarters. They had five players reach double figures, getting the kind of scoring balance the team desires.

Defense was again the team's weak point.

The Raptors scored 116 points. They shot 48.9 percent from the field and 42.4 percent from 3-point range. They took care of the ball, only committing 10 turnovers. The Cavs thought their halfcourt defense was better than the numbers indicate, that the Raptors made some tough shots. That's one view.

But the Cavs' defensive rating in the opener? A paltry 114.9. Straight to the bottom of the rankings they go once again.

Two points of emphasis heading into the game were paint points and fastbreak points. Well, Toronto scored 56 points in the paint, shooting 50 percent on those looks. They also finished the night with 22 fastbreak points, converting eight of their 12 transition chances.

After the game, Love lamented a lack of communication and trust -- two issues caused by his recent absence.

"We just didn't play our brand of basketball," he said. "Just getting that first one out of the way and there were some good things like us getting back in the game in the third quarter, but just couldn't get over the hump and just didn't feel like us. There will be a lot of film tomorrow so we have to be super-attention to detail. We're not a team that has the luxury of being able to just rely on our talent. Have to pay attention to detail and have to continue to have that mindset."

On a night the Cavaliers officially turned the page and entered a new era, Love lived up to his reputation as leader afterward.

It was a much different story during the game.