Cleveland Cavaliers at Boston Celtics Game 5 player grades

The Cavaliers were very, very bad in this game.

LeBron James: B

James had a very odd game from an energy standpoint, and it’s worth noting if he’s running low on reserves due to having to due absolutely everything on every possession. He’s the only Cavaliers that can consistently punish switches right now, and six odd turnovers really hurt the Cavaliers while he failed to be a consistent positive defensively again.

Kevin Love: B-

Kevin Love just hasn’t been able to get to the line all series and it’s made it hard for him to be particularly efficient offensively for a team that really needs him to be efficient offensively. He was ultimately fine in this game, but the Cavs just need more from him on the road when their role players shrink away.

J.R. Smith: D+

Smith was invisible offensively after two great games at home. On the other end, Jayson Tatum absolutely torched him and he wasn’t able to give anything back, finishing 1-6 and hitting zero threes.

Tristan Thompson: C-

Thompson did well when matched up with Al Horford again, but his offense was absolutely a problem for the supersized Celtics. He hasn’t consistently won minutes sharing the floor with Aron Baynes, and the Cavaliers need him to find ways to contribute when being covered by a guard. One solution we know won’t work: post-ups.

George Hill: D+

Can it really be so simple to say that the Cavaliers can really go as far as Hill can take them as a third option? He’s been worthless offensively in Boston in this series, and that trend continued on Wednesday night. 1-5 from the field? Not enough from Hill.

Kyle Korver: B-

Korver was fine in this game, but Tyronn Lue inexplicably didn’t play him in the first or third quarters. It’s hard to explain why on earth he wouldn’t play with the Cavaliers so starved for offense, but he didn’t and the Cavaliers couldn’t score. I don’t know, man.

Jordan Clarkson: C-

Clarkson is known as a feast-or-famine player, but we finally got a little burst of feast early on in the second quarter. Now, we also got famine in the fourth as he missed two threes that would’ve gotten the Cavaliers back into the game, but alas. There was at least some good..

Larry Nance Jr.: B

Nance deserved more of Tristan Thompson’s minutes in this game. He played with much more energy, causing deflections and blocking shots. He didn’t score much, but his energy helped on a night it was sorely needed.

Jeff Green: C+

Green wasn’t great in this game, but he had one of his less harmful games in the postseason.