Player Grades: Cavs at Warriors – James Harden closes the door

Yet, as much as I want to bemoan the quality of attempts like this, I can’t deny that Mitchell was scoring efficiently. I can’t say I love the process. But for tonight, I’ll live with the results.

Turnovers were an issue for Mitchell. Though each unforced error seemed to fuel his frustrations and make him more engaged defensively. As I said, this was a contradictory game.

Grade: B-

James Harden

19 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds, 4 turnovers

Harden’s defense has been as bad as advertised. It’s not fun watching him get backdoor cuts for easy layups. It is, however, fun to watch him throw lobs. The duality of man.

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The Cavs closed this game behind two plays from Harden. First, he drew a double team and dished to Max Strus for a huge three-pointer. Then, he danced one-on-one for a tough floater in the lane to extend the lead to six with 21 seconds remaining. That will help your grade.

Grade: B

Evan Mobley

12 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal

Mobley has historically struggled against Kristaps Porzingis. With this in mind, he certainly handled that individual matchup better than in the past. Mobley didn’t appear as bothered by KP’s length and was able to help contain him on the other end.

Zooming out, Mobley lost this matchup in the non-Porzingis minutes. That was his opportunity to make his presence felt. Instead, Mobley lacked the aggression he had in March. Let’s hope he finds that again soon.

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Grade: C+

Jarrett Allen

16 points, 13 rebounds, 1 steal

Allen is still clearly working through some pain in his knee. He hasn’t been as explosive with the ball. Though, he’s still converting most of his looks at the rim and playing a key role as Cleveland’s defensive anchor.

Gotta hit more than half of your free throws, Fro. He shot 6-12 from the line tonight.

Grade: B+

Sam Merrill

13 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals

We’ve seen a few games like this from Sam recently. He couldn’t find his rhythm from downtown, but he made up for it by getting downhill and creating plays off his gravity. Still, we’d like to see Sam get free for a big scoring night. He’s not out there to pass the ball.

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Grade: C–

Max Strus

24 points, 2 assists, 5 rebounds

The Cavs lose this game without Strus Point, blank, period.

It wasn’t just his pair of triples in the clutch, but also his activity away from the ball. Strus helped the Cavs secure numerous rebounds with timely box outs — and he even forced a tough turnover on the Warriors by pressuring the ball on a defensive board.

Grade: A+

Keon Ellis

4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal

I’m sobering up to the Ellis experience on defense. He isn’t as sound a defender as the blocks and steals would make you think. His game has some rough edges in terms of suppressing shot attempts and making the correct rotations.

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That said, he’s given me the exact opposite impression on offense. Ellis has broken out of a box and become more than a traditional catch-and-shoot player. I’ve enjoyed watching him cut to the basket and play from the middle of the floor. He had two nice dunks tonight off of cuts.

Grade: D

Dennis Schroder

12 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 turnovers

Schroder nearly threw this game off the rails in the fourth quarter with a flagrant foul followed by a tech for complaining to the officials. Yes, he was being grabbed — but that was a bad time to get on the referee’s bad side.

He saves his grade by scoring efficiently tonight. Schroder shot 4-7 from the floor and 3-3 from the free throw line. That’s a big boost in a game where the Cavs struggled to score consistently.

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Grade: B-

Thomas Bryant

3 points, 3 rebounds

The last few games haven’t been kind to Bryant. His impact is slipping as the season goes on. This wasn’t his best effort.

Grade: D