CLEVELAND — The Raptors need to turn to Norm — again.

Unwilling to allow Tristan Thompson, Kevin Love and LeBron James to terrorize them on the boards in Game 1 on Monday, the Raptors started Jonas Valanciunas, instead of Norman Powell, who had turned heads during the series against Milwaukee.

Not only did the Raptors still lose the battle of the glass in the opener — with Thompson hauling in 14 — Valanciunas had a brutal game, the offence struggled, as it usually does when he and DeMar DeRozan are on the floor together. Meanwhile, Powell — so key against the Bucks — only played 10 minutes through the first three quarters, never catching a rhythm in the eventual 116-105 loss.

In order to get the ball moving again and to cover more ground defensively, the Raptors must again turn to Powell as a starter moving forward. Otherwise, this is going to be a quick series. He was a team-best +14 (DeRozan was a dreadful -32, Valanciunas -21).

Cleveland had a huge edge in three-point attempts and makes and it’s hard to stay close when you are shooting mostly two-pointers and giving up an extra point per attempt at the other end repeatedly.

Powell could address some of that. He hit all seven of his shots from beyond the arc against the Bucks and also creates off of the dribble and opens up more room for DeRozan and Kyle Lowry while putting pressure on defences, especially bad ones. Cleveland was near the bottom defensively in the second half of the season.

Powell opened the fourth with consecutive three-pointers, putting at least a bit of intrigue into a game that appeared to be over, at least for a few minutes.

Powell has many fans around the NBA, in front offices, and on the court.

Former Raptor Luis Scola gushed about him in a recent interview with TSN Radio 1050.

“I think he needs to play a lot. With him on the court, I think they are a lot more dangerous,” Scola said. “I don’t see any other way the Raptors can compete without using Norman.”

Powell says the right thing, acting like a true professional, even though he is itching to play more.

“I’m a young guy in this league. You know, I want to start, I want to play big minutes, I want to be in there, but it’s a process,” Powell said in a 1-on-1 interview earlier Monday.

“You’ve got to work for it, you’ve got to earn it and that’s my main focus, trying to earn the trust of the organization and the coaches and my team and continue playing and keep working until then.”

It says here Powell has already earned that shot. What else does he have to do?

He saved the season last year in the first round and repeated that feat to a lesser degree in April. Powell’s .743 true shooting percentage against the Bucks was the fifth-best mark ever in a series (of guards attempting at least 30 shots), per basketball-reference.com.

Nobody expects Powell to duplicate those performances, but anything close would be a major boost for a Raptor team that needs it.

Powell has been excellent as a starter historically and not much of a factor as a reserve. He complements the first group well.

He will be ready if called upon.

“I don’t look at (playing so well against Milwaukee) as something that happened crazy for me,” Powell said. “It’s what I prepare for, what I work for and I have the same mental focus coming in to this round, no matter the minutes I get. My mental focus is doing whatever it takes to get the win and move to the next round.”

Coach Dwane Casey liked what he saw from Powell and fellow sophomore Delon Wright, who also was a +14, so maybe that means they will both be utilized more going forward.

“I thought both of them were aggressive with their speed and quickness and playing with force and I thought that was a positive for us,” Casey said afterward.

MUCH-NEEDED REST

You can bet James enjoyed his full week off between games.

Though he is only 32, James has logged a ton of miles over the years. He’s 25th in all-time minutes and 4th in post-season minutes (averaging a whopping 42.2 a night, trailing only Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell), yet he still averaged 37.8 minutes per game this year, leading the NBA and ranking 10th in overall minutes (he missed eight games).

He was asked earlier Monday whether he’d be rusty.

“There’s only so much rest you can get,” James said.

“At the end of the day you want to try to stay in playoff form and stay in playoff intensity and we haven’t been able to do that because we’ve been off for a week,” he said.

James and the Cavs certainly didn’t look rusty early on. James had 10 points in the opening quarter, the Cavs shot 52% and out-rebounded the Raptors 13-9. James threw down a monster one-handed jam off a pass from Kyrie Irving and Cleveland’s legs looked extremely fresh.

AROUND THE RIM

James in the first round ranked third in the NBA in points per game, 7th in rebounding, fifth in assists and second in steals. After watching Game 1 here you wondered how he wasn’t first in everything. He was that good … James on the Raptors: “They’re a very good team … They’ve got some great guys who have played in big games. We look forward to the challenge.” They’ll have to wait until Game 2, maybe … A Raptors assistant to Wright after shootaround Monday morning: “Stay ready.” Wright’s response: “I’m always ready.” Wright could see some action guarding Irving, because his length might disrupt one of the league’s best one-on-one scorers.