Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Brooklyn Nets: Postgame Grades and Analysis
The Cleveland Cavaliers started slowly but rode a hot third quarter to a 110-88 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday at the Barclays Center.
Cleveland went into the halftime break with a 50-49 lead, but the offense looked stagnant. LeBron James and sixth man Dion Waiters helped spark the attack in the third quarter, coinciding with the late arrival of Prince William and Duchess Kate.
Kevin Love and Anderson Varejao did their part as well, leading the charge in a dominant performance on the boards. The Cavs outrebounded the Nets 55-33.
The Nets were led not only by Kevin Garnett's 14 points, but his tireless passion (which you'll see later).
| LeBron James | B |
| Kyrie Irving | D |
| Kevin Love | B |
| Anderson Varejao | C |
| Rest of Team | A |
| Deron Williams | B- |
| Kevin Garnett | A |
| Mirza Teletovic | C |
| Bojan Bogdanovic | F |
| Rest of Team | C- |
Cleveland Cavaliers
LeBron James: B
In the first and second quarters, James looked content to walk the ball up, pass it off to someone else and pretty much disappear after that.
The nonchalant style of play has become a trend for James this season, as the level of engagement has been nowhere near as consistent as it was in the past.
The scary thing for the rest of the league is that he can turn it on in the blink of an eye and take complete control of a game. That's exactly what he did during a stretch of the third quarter in which he scored seven quick points and hit one ridiculous fadeaway that pretty much put the game away.
Brooklyn managed to keep the game close as long as LeBron was just going through the motions. It seemingly turned into a blowout right when he wanted it to.
James would finish with 18 points and seven assists.
Kyrie Irving: D
As was often the case for the Miami Heat when James was there, it's not uncommon for one of the Cavs' Big Three to have a rough game.
Kyrie Irving went through one of those, scoring just seven points on 2-of-10 shooting. His pull-up jumpers were all over the place, and his touch around the rim was nowhere near as soft as usual.
Fortunately for Cleveland, his performance on the other end wasn't impacted by his offensive woes. He was part of a solid team effort that held Deron Williams to 3-of-14 shooting.
Kevin Love: B
Another developing trend for this team is when Kevin Love gets his points, which has recently been during first quarters.
That was maintained Monday, as Love got off to another hot start, scoring 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the first quarter. The problem is he's been disappearing offensively after those starts.
He finished with 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting. He was solid on the boards throughout, though, finishing with 14.
Anderson Varejao: C
Anderson Varejao was a big part of Cleveland's dominating performance on the boards, tying with Love for a game-high 14. No matter how he plays on offense and defense, his effort on the boards is always there.
This was one of those nights when rebounding was the one thing that was going right. Varejao had a hard time finding his spots in the offense and couldn't catch the ball a couple of the times he actually got it. He finished with just seven points on 2-of-5 shooting.
He also got beat up on the other end by a combination of Kevin Garnett, Mason Plumlee and Jerome Jordan.
Rest of Team: A
Cleveland's bench has been disastrous at times this season, but Tristan Thompson and Dion Waiters were fantastic Monday, helping to key the third-quarter run that put the game away.
Waiters scored a game-high 26 points on 11-of-21 shooting. Thompson posted a solid double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
Even James Jones got in on the act, scoring 12 points on 4-of-5 from three-point range.
Brooklyn Nets
Deron Williams: B-
Deron Williams may have struggled from the field, but he registered a double-double with 13 points and 11 assists and was one of the main reasons Brooklyn stayed in the game in the first half.
He was setting up both shooters on the perimeter and finishers inside during the first half, but he started trying to gun the Nets back into the game when things turned sour.
Kevin Garnett: A
Even at 38, Kevin Garnett continues to let his talking do the talking. He was barking at anyone who came near him, throwing elbows and just doing his general pest routine.
The difference Monday was that his game actually did some talking too. He scored 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds in just 19 minutes.
Mirza Teletovic: C
Mirza Teletovic got off to a solid start offensively, filling in for the injured Brook Lopez, but his night was cut short by a pair of injuries.
He would finish the game with 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting, including this beautiful reverse from the first quarter.
Bojan Bogdanovic: F
With Lopez and Joe Johnson out, the Nets desperately needed someone to make up for some of those points. Bojan Bogdanovic was a prime candidate, but he fell flat, shooting 1-of-6 from the field and scoring just two points.
He was matched up with Waiters for several stretches of the game and simply looked outmatched physically on both ends.
Rest of Team: C-
Two Nets reached double figures off the bench. Jerome Jordan scored 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting but was a team-worst minus-30 in 26 minutes of action. Sergey Karasev scored 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting against his former team.
Mason Plumlee and Jarrett Jack, typically Brooklyn's primary weapons off the bench, went for 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting combined.
Coming Up Next
The Cavaliers' next game will be Tuesday against the Toronto Raptors at 7 p.m. ET. The Nets will hit the road to take on the Chicago Bulls Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET
Andy Bailey covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him @AndrewDBailey.
