The Cleveland Cavaliers four-game winning streak was snapped by the Miami Heat.
All grades are based on our usual expectations for each player.
Donovan Mitchell
28 points, 4 assists, 6 rebounds, 3 turnovers
The first half was on par with some of the defensive effort we’ve seen this week from Mitchell. The second half, though? That’s more like it.
Mitchell ramped up his ‘compete’ level and helped turn this game around. His scoring is one thing. We’ve seen him get hot in a hurry before. But when he’s diving to the floor,
fighting for loose balls, and getting into the jersey of his opponent? That’s the type of stuff that gets Cleveland roaring.
Grade: B
James Harden
18 points, 7 assists, 9 rebounds, 5 turnovers
This was an uncharacteristically quiet game from Harden, who had previously been in a flow state. He wasn’t overly aggressive hunting for his shot tonight, and the defense was, well, you know how the defense was.
Harden shot 3-9 from three and 1-1 from inside of two-point range. The Heat did a fine job packing the paint, and Harden wasn’t able to punish them enough with his pull-up jumper.
Grade: C-
Evan Mobley
8 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists
Miami made a conscious effort to keep Mobley in a box. He saw multiple jerseys on every post entry and had trouble getting around Bam Adebayo. This is a tougher matchup for Mobley when Jarrett Allen isn’t on the court to put pressure on the Heat’s frontcourt. We saw the results of that tonight.
That said, Mobley has no one to blame but himself for this one. He looked uncertain of himself from the start. And as the game wore on, Miami took more and more space from him. His failed isolation attempt on Kel’el Ware was the lowlight of the night.
Grade: F
Keon Ellis
17 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals
Ellis hasn’t been spacing the floor as we’d hope recently (1-7 from downtown tonight). He did, however, make himself available in the dunker’s spot for a handful of easy opportunities.
He also knocked the ball out of Tyler Herro’s hands three times in the same possession. That was sick.
Grade: B+
Sam Merrill
18 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists
Merrill is having his best season as a slasher. He got to the rim relentlessly against the Magic last night and replicated some of that success versus Miami. He’s been quick to catch and attack this year rather than pump fake or relocate for a three-pointer. That’s given him the advantage he needs to get into the lane and showcase his floater and layup.
“I was joking, he’s like a drive-first guy now,” Kenny Aktinson said. “Teams are running him off. He’s a hot shooter, we know what that coverage is, so he’s just running through catches… that’s called player development.”
Grade: B+
Dennis Schroder
4 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds
We might be finding out why Schroder was available at the deadline. Or rather, why the Sacramento Kings were willing to give up Keon Ellis for De’Andre Hunter simply to get Schroder off their books.
That’s not to say Schroder is a bad player, or that he can’t help the Cavs down the stretch, but his last few games haven’t been great. He shot 1-5 and wasn’t great defensively. He gets some credit for his effort on the glass and for dealing 6 assists with 0 turnovers.
Grade: D+
Nae’Qwan Tomlin
6 points, 4 rebounds
The Cavs played Tomlin out of necessity tonight. His lack of a viable jumper has made it difficult to keep him on the floor. He isn’t being guarded in the corner, and he’s mostly taking up space in the paint when he sits in the dunker’s spot. He also picked up four fouls in his first nine minutes tonight.
It’s been rough on Tomlin Island.
Grade: D–
Tyrese Proctor
0 points, 1 rebound, 0 assists, 2 steals
Proctor was thrown into this game during the second quarter as the wheels were falling off. These were his first meaningful minutes since February, and that matched the eye test. He wasn’t overly involved in anything — and smoked an open layup in the fourth quarter.
I’ll be lenient with his grade, considering his place in the rotations and the expectations I have for him as a young pup.
Grade: D+
Thomas Bryant
4 points, 5 rebounds
Bryant’s first half was abysmal. He went 0-4 from the floor and was a minus-17 as Miami’s athleticism left him in the dust. He turned it around gradually in the second half, even rounding out to a positive in the plus-minus before the Heat slammed the door shut in the fourth quarter.
Again, this was just one of those nights where you missed Jarrett Allen.
Grade: D+
