Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Detroit Pistons player grades: This was better

Here are the players grades for the Cleveland Cavaliers loss to the Detroit Pistons:

Kyle Korver: B+

Korver stepped up with his best game of the season for the Cavs, putting up 21 points on 7-10 shooting. He likely won’t be here all season, but while he is he should remain in the rotation for the steady spacing and team play he can provide.

Collin Sexton: B

Like Korver, Sexton put up his best and most complete game of the season. Even though he still spent a considerable amount of time with Jordan Clarkson, Sexton still received steady touches and showed much better patience with the ball. 14 points, five assists and two steals was a really impressive output in his 25 minutes. After 8 days it’s clear the Cavs are not a playoff team, there’s no reason to not be giving Sexton considerable minutes.

Larry Nance Jr: B

With Tristan Thompson struggling to contain Andre Drummond, Nance stepped up and provided the Cavs with a spark off the bench. The most compelling stretch of the game came in the fourth quarter with Nance in at center. While it would have been nice to see him contribute more on the boards, he tied Sexton for the most assists on the night and delivered his first good game of the season.

Jordan Clarkson: B-

Clarkson’s hot scoring has continuted, as he poured in 18 points on 8-12 shooting. He has been a black hole but productive so far this season. Which wouldn’t be the end of the world for a limited Cavs bench if it didn’t take away from Collin Sexton.

At this point I have come to the realization that the four best performers for the Cavs came off the bench this evening. That hasn’t been the case all season, so at least that could be viewed as a positive.

George Hill: C+

Hill has been moderately effective while looking lifeless for most of this season. That continued to be the case tonight.

Cedi Osman: C

The scoring, not so great. Everything else, pretty good. Osman continues to struggle with his finishing with a few misses that just seemed to roll out of the rim. Overall this was not a terrible game, but his struggles to finish have neutered his ability to truly be a game changer.

Channing Frye: C

I don’t know how much more you could expect from a guy going from street clothes to the starting lineup. Frye provided spacing and some shooting, but the drop off in rebounding from Love to Frye put the Cavs in a tough position against the duo of Drummond and Griffin.

Rodney Hood: D+

Like Clarkson, Hood provides little else outside of his scoring. Unlike Clarkson, Hood hasn’t scored at an above average rate. It may be worthwhile for Tyronn Lue to try Sexton in the starting lineup next to Hill over Hood, given the absence of production.

Tristan Thompson: D

Tonight was a throwback to some of the struggles of Thompson from last season. Back to backs were a nightmare for him as he battled through injuries. Healthy this season, the back to back still seemed to plague him as he was lackluster on the boards and was dissected by Drummond.

J.R. Smith: F

I can’t wait for the Instagram recap of this game from Smith.