Cedi Osman plays his new role and passes the first defensive test: the five observations of Fedor

New striker Cedi Osman started smiling from Cleveland.com before the match, about his next game against Kawhi Leonard and another with Jimmy Butler on Friday night.

Read put Osman in the role of "defensive scorer", asking the second year's energy ball to fight against the best scorer of the opposing perimeter.

On Wednesday night, it meant Leonard – a candidate for the most valuable player and one of Osman's summer training partners.

"It's a big challenge," said Osman before the game. "I was doing this last year, so nothing new with that. I always like to meet these challenges. It's fun to try to stop it.

Osman knew that Leonard was going to score. "Kawhi is one of the best little attackers in the world," he said. That's why the main goal was to get Leonard to take bad photos from outside. If he had to score 20 points or more, Osman's goal was to make it a difficult night, an ineffective evening.

"If they succeed in difficult shots, you live with it," Osman said.

Mission accomplished.

Leonard was good in his debut with the Raptors. He scored 24 points and collected 12 rebounds. Rowdy Toronto supporters cheered each time he touched the ball in the opening minutes. But he was just 9 out of 22 and had as many turnovers (two) as the assists.

When Leonard tried to overtake Osman, the young man moved his feet and remained in front. When the sturdy Raptor tried to bend Osman to his post, he kept his position.

"I thought Cedi was great tonight," said Kevin Love. "He was our, I do not mean on the bright side, but he was our star tonight."

Osman asked me after the match if I knew how many times Leonard had scored against him. Admittedly, I did not follow, but I guessed two.

Technically, it was true.

From one possession, Leonard veered from the baseline to the elbow, using a screen to create space before slaughtering a rider on Osman. Another time, as Toronto raised the ball, Osman appeared in front of Pascal Siakam, leaving Leonard open in the left corner. Leonard buried the pointer at 3, with Osman not fast enough to recover.

Other than that, Leonard has done most of his damage against other defenders.

He hit the jumpers over Rodney Hood and Tristan Thompson as a result of changes. Leonard thundered a dunk after a flight. He had a setback, putting himself inside Hood. He drove against George Hill and won free throws.

Cavs are a heavy defense of switches these days. This means that Osman will not be paired with elite wings with every possession. But when he does, the plan will not change, trying to force his opponents into hard shots while not discouraged.