Player Grades: Cavs vs Kings

This one was frustrating.

The Cleveland Cavaliers could have clinched the top seed of the Eastern Conference with a win today. A combination of poor shooting, turned ankles and bad officiating led to the Cavs dropping a game they feel they should have won.

Grades are based on our expectations of each player.

Ty Jerome

20 points (9-13 shooting), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers

Jerome made his return to the Cavs tonight after missing the previous five games with a knee injury. He picked up right where he left off, pouring on buckets and energizing the Cleveland crowd.

It’s uncanny how Jerome find the basket even when he’s falling down on the run. But his floater hasn’t failed him yet. Jerome repeatedly scored over the Kings with his floater and did all he could to put the Cavs on top.

Grade: A+

Darius Garland

9 points (4-13 shooting), 7 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 3 turnovers

The Cavs needed more from Garland. Plain and true. He was 1-7 from deep and turned it over more than you’d like. We can pick nits about the defensive effort but the simple truth is Garland needed to put points on the board. Especially with Mitchell going out with an ankle injury for a stretch during the third quarter.

Grade: F

Evan Mobley

16 points (7-14 shooting), 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks

Mobley did a little bit of everything tonight. Six stocks (steals and blocks) could help his argument for Defensive Player of the Year but he didn’t quite have the all-around impact you usually feel. But the Cavs struggled to get stops and Mobley was one of the few players who held this defense together.

On offense, Mobley went 0-4 from deep. His outside shot wasn’t falling but he responded by going 7-10 from inside the arc. A few more touches might have been beneficial. Overall, this game will be largely forgotten.

Grade: B+

Donovan Mitchell

19 points (7-16 shooting), 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals

Mitchell frightened all of Cleveland when he twisted his ankle and limped to the locker room during the third quarter. He brought quick relief by returning to the floor 10 minutes later — but the damage had already been done. The Kings won those minutes 35-17.

Still, Mitchell immediately led a 10-0 run to start the fourth quarter and reclaim momentum. He was dynamite in the final quarter and almost completed a heroic comeback. As you’ll see later, that opportunity never quite presented itself due to an officiating blunder.

Rounding out the grade, Mitchell’s 1-6 three-point shooting was tough. A more efficient game — or one where he didn’t twist his ankle — might have led to a different result.

Grade: B+

Jarrett Allen

17 points (7-9 shooting), 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 turnovers

Allen continues to fight in the paint and bring the Cavs back to a respectable rebounding rate. He held Domantas Sabonis to just 10 boards tonight as he was constantly banging in the post to keep him away from the ball. Allen didn’t secure too many boards on his own but his physical approach to blocking Sabonis made it possible for his teammates to chip in.

That said, Allen got a bit ahead of himself on a play in the fourth quarter. He caught the ball on the short roll and fumbled it to an opponent when Mobley was open for the lob. This rare blunder in the big-to-big setup came at a costly time. Four turnovers for the big fella are not common.

Grade: B

Sam Merrill

0 points (0-3 shooting), 2 rebounds, 1 assist

Yeah, the box score speaks for itself. Merrill was fine on defense, but the Cavs really could have used a three-point shot or two.

Grade: D

Isaac Okoro

7 points (3-3 shooting), 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 18 minutes

The Cavaliers' two best stretches of this game came when Okoro was on the floor. Okoro did a fine job of denying Zach LaVine (who finished with 35 points on 15-21 shooting) when he was on the floor. Okoro’s ability to suppress shot attempts makes him a valuable perimeter defender.

Even more so, Okoro is a difference-maker when he’s generating steals and grabbing tw offensive rebounds. Winning the possession battle is something that will help you win games. Okoro did all he could in the limited time he played. He finished as a team high +20.

Grade: A-

De’Andre Hunter

11 points (4-9 shooting), 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 22 minutes

Opposite to Okoro, Hunter was part of the worst stretches of this game for Cleveland. He posted a dreaded plus/minus of -28 and wasn’t able to play the amount of minutes you might hope, given he was the only Cavalier to hit more than two three-pointers.

That said, Hunter wasn’t as bad as the plus/minus suggests. He was active on the glass, even if he only had two rebounds to show for it. His effort boxing out and swatting at the ball helped Cleveland secure a few more possessions than he got credit for. He also had two steals and two blocks, making more of an impact than we usually expect.

Grade: B-

Max Strus

11 points (4-6 shooting), 7 assists, 6 rebounds,

Strus suddenly came a live from deep near the end of this game. A pair of three-pointers when they needed it most was huge.

This was an all-around quality performance from Strus. His playmaking is always a nice boost for the offense and he was great at collecting rebounds on both sides of the floor (three offensive and three defensive rebounds).

Grade: A-

The Officiating Crew

Oh, yeah. We’re going there.

It’s never a good idea to blame the officiating for your loss. So we certainly won’t be doing that. The Cavs shot 26.3% from deep and missed eight free throws tonight. They only have themselves to blame.

And yet...

The officials missed a blatant shot-clock violation with 40 seconds remaining. This Zach LaVine bucket should have never been counted. In fact, it’s absurd that it was never even reviewed. The game kept going — and it was never corrected, even after the Cavs were fouled on a three-point attempt shortly after and should have had an opportunity to TIE THE GAME.

Just when it looked like the officials were finally going to the replay station to retract two points — they surprised us all by overturning the foul that would have sent Mitchell to the free throw line. It turns out, Mitchell’s heel was out of bounds. I’m glad the monitors caught that, since some weird bug must have stopped them from seeing the previous violation.

You can keep your two-minute report. We already know we got screwed.

Grade: FFFFFFFFFFFF