Player Grades: Cavs vs Wizards – Peyton Watson finds his groove

The Cleveland Cavaliers completed another comeback to notch their third straight win.

Grades are based on our usual expectations for each player.

Player of the game

Evan Mobley

24 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists

Mobley kicked open the game by nailing his first three three-point attempts. He’d go on to hit 5-of-6 in one of the best three-point shooting games of his career.

The outside shot has always been a question mark for Mobley, but it’s been more consistent than ever to start the season.

You’d still like to see him establish himself in the paint. This has been two games in a row where Mobley was forced to rely on the perimeter shot more than his bread-and-butter in the restricted area. That’s partly because he’s matched up against generational defenders in Rudy Gobert and Anthony Davis in consecutive games.

I don’t love the idea of Mobley relying too much on three-pointers. But if he shoots it like this, then I don’t have much to complain about.

Grade: A

Grades

Donovan Mitchell

19 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds

Mitchell’s shot wasn’t falling tonight as he started 4-for-11 from the floor. He converted back-to-back shots in the fourth to help close the door.

Credit to Washington, who set the tone early and made it so Mitchell had to work hard on both ends of the floor. His defense left much to be desired tonight.

Grade: C-

James Harden

16 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 turnovers

It was one of Harden’s poorest defensive efforts to date as the Wizards left him trailing more often than not. In fact, Harden spent most of his time stuck in concrete defensively. An ounce of effort in transition, or simply in the halfcourt, would have saved the Cavs some trouble throughout this one.

Grade: D+

Peyton Watson

22 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block

Watson is getting more comfortable as he has had the best offensive half of his career in Cleveland so far. He scored 16 points in the first two quarters, shooting 7-for-11 from the floor and scoring from all three levels throughout.

The ball went away from him in the second half as the Cavaliers’ offense funneled more through their backcourt. But his energy kept him on the board, with Watson finishing a putback layup during Cleveland’s rally in the fourth quarter.

Grade: A-

Jarrett Allen

8 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks

Allen was one of the only Cavaliers who seemed interested in playing defense tonight. He had three fantastic blocks, each of which saved a bucket at the rim. Allen’s energy doesn’t always get appreciated, but we won’t be overlooking him tonight.

Grade: B

Jaylon Tyson

7 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist

Tyson was a bit helter-skelter tonight. His frantic dribbling slowed down some of Cleveland’s momentum in the fourth quarter before a timeout was needed to steady the ship.

Grade: D+

Mario Hezonja

5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists

Hezonja hasn’t been as involved recently, but he’s nailed clutch three-pointers in each of his last two games. That speaks to his professionalism and his ability to stay ready at all times.

Grade: C+

Sam Merrill

8 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist

Merrill finally found his touch after a lackluster start to the season. It was only two three-pointers, but there’s nothing quite like watching Merrill hit difficult three-pointers, and Rocket Arena went into a frenzy after his second make.

Grade: C+

Meleek Thomas

16 points, 2 rebounds

I can’t overstate how impressed I’ve been with Meleek’s defensive energy through two games. His attention to detail has been superb, and his active hands have led to numerous forced turnovers.

I especially liked when he jumped an entry pass to the post after helping off the opposite corner.

On offense, Thomas went 0-for-1 from deep, but finished 4-of-5 attempts inside the arc by being a threat to sprint in transition and get downhill.

If he keeps playing like this, we’ll have to adjust our expectations and start grading him on a different curve.

Grade: A–