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Here are your player grades from the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 108-92 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. Tristan Thompson is hurt, and that wasn’t the only bad news from a game that the Cavs failed to stay competitive in.
Tristan Thompson: B
Thompson wasn’t the problem for the Cavs before his injury, but it’s hard to give him a great grade given the all-around struggles of the team. Twelve points on seven shots and six rebounds in just 18 minutes is pretty good, though. Hopefully he’s able to recover pretty quickly. But a huge part of his effectiveness has been the fact that he finally wasn’t playing banged up.
Collin Sexton: C-
Sexton had a wonderful behind the back pass to Tristan Thompson for an easy dunk early in this game. I … don’t have many more positives to report to you. He finished with 15 points on 18 shots, and chipped in two assists to go with four fouls in his 32 minutes. He’s getting real minutes, so you just have to take the good with the bad.
Jalen Jones: C-
Missed all four of his shot attempts in 19 minutes, but you know what, three of them were three pointers. At least he’s letting it fly. Someone needs to. Unfortunately, someone needs to score, too, and the Cavs are having trouble finding that.
Larry Nance Jr.: A
Larry Nance played 25 minutes and was a plus-six in a game the Cavs lost by 16 points. This was one of his better games of the year, and it’ll be interesting to see how he does as a starter if Thompson misses some time. He was efficient, he filled up the stat sheet, and the Cavs were pretty good where he played. He fouled a bit, and that’ll be magnified with more minutes.
Alec Burks: D
Three points on eight shots is not ideal. He made one three, and that was exciting. I remember getting excited. There’s just not much else worth dwelling on. He wasn’t helpful offensively on a team without helpful offensive players.
Cedi Osman: C-
Are you ready for the continuation of the pattern? Eight points on 13 shots. You can have a starter put up some of these numbers, but it was basically everyone outside of Thompson and Nance that couldn’t score the basketball. Right now the Cavs are full of guys who work hard but aren’t particularly skilled. On the nights their defense isn’t locked in it’s a real struggle.
Jodan Clarkson: C-
Nine points on 13 shots. Just not good enough. He moved the ball at times a bit better than I’m used to seeing, but it’s just hard to see him leading a consistently good offense. At least he isn’t playing as much with Collin Sexton.
Rodney Hood: D
Yet another starter who could not make a shot to save his life.
Channing Frye: Incomplete
Was a -12 in just five minutes, but it’s hard to put it all on him. It’s not encouraging though. It’d be great if he was playable, though, because his shooting would help.
Matthew Dellavedova: B+
Hey now, I think this guy might be able to help. He can shoot a little bit, won’t try and do too much, and probably won’t be too much of a drag on the defense, especially if he keeps coming off the bench. He’ll help Sexton in practice, too. Overall an impressive debut for the once and future Cavs king of grit.