The Cleveland Cavaliers unfortunately had to stress down the stretch for a win in their home opener against the Brooklyn Nets.<\/p>\n
Grades are based on our usual expectations for each player.<\/p>\n
21 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block<\/p>\n
This was your standard Jarrett Allen game. A solid showing on both ends of the court that won\u2019t always get the credit it deserves. Allen shot 7-for-8 and cleaned up a handful of plays in a game where every possession ended up mattering.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know how many plays he made at the rim tonight that saved us,\u201d said Kenny Atkinson after the game.<\/p>\n
22 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 turnovers<\/p>\n
Mitchell wasn\u2019t as explosive at any point tonight as he was in the first half versus Philly, yet his presence was more evenly spread throughout this game. He is still working to avoid pressure, rather than fighting against the current. But old habits die hard.<\/p>\n
12 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 turnovers<\/p>\n
Harden didn\u2019t shoot the ball particularly well in this game (1-8), but he played his old tricks in getting to the free-throw line on a four-point play \u2014 his only make of the first half.<\/p>\n
20 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks<\/p>\n
Mobley left a handful of scoring opportunities on the table by coming up blank at the rim. Still, his outside shooting (2-of-3 from deep) opened the floor in the first half. And good things happened any time he played with aggression.<\/p>\n
This was a strong contender for player of the game. I gave Allen the nod only because of a few awkward possessions from Mobley down the stretch.<\/p>\n
11 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers<\/p>\n
Watson\u2019s offensive fit in the starting five doesn\u2019t look seamless, but it did feel better tonight than it did on Thursday. Hitting a pair of three-pointers in the first half helped in that regard \u2014 though he still has plenty of wrinkles to iron out.<\/p>\n
His offensive foul late in the game was nearly a back-breaker.<\/p>\n
15 points, 4 assists, 1 rebound, 2 blocks, 4 turnovers<\/p>\n
Tyson\u2019s outside shot has been a bit erratic to start the season. He airballed multiple three-pointers tonight, but still finished 3-for-7 from downtown.<\/p>\n
His scoring off the bench was an overall positive, and he has budding chemistry with Hezonja. It still feels like there\u2019s a more refined version of Tyson that\u2019s waiting to emerge this season.<\/p>\n
9 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 4 turnovers<\/p>\n
Hezonja is fitting right in with Cleveland. All of the \u2018on-paper\u2019 skills (size, playmaking, floor spacing and interior scoring) have become tangible right away.<\/p>\n
That said, he does have to take better care of the ball. Cleveland is losing the possession battle, and 8 combined turnovers between Hezonja and Tyson aren\u2019t going to cut it.<\/p>\n
7 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds<\/p>\n
It took Merrill 10 minutes of playing time before attempting a shot in this game. A rarity in the world of Money Merrill. But to absolutely no surprise, his first look was butter from the corner.<\/p>\n
With that said, everyone involved has to make sure Merrill is attempting three-pointers at a far higher rate than this.<\/p>\n
3 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist<\/p>\n
The Cavs will spend all season searching for a backup ball handler on their bench. Whether or not it\u2019s a traditional point guard like Porter remains to be seen. His first few stints have yet to leave a lasting impact.<\/p>\n
5 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal<\/p>\n
This was the best game Proctor has played in the 2026-27 campaign (including preseason). It was a brief sign of life from a player who needs to make the most of the opportunity in front of him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Cleveland Cavaliers unfortunately had to stress down the stretch for a win in their home opener against…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":894309,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[48013,206460,355,99],"class_list":["post-894308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-cavs-analysis","tag-cavs-player-grades","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=894308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/894309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=894308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=894308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=894308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}