Player Grades: Cavs at Nuggets – James Harden stuns Denver

The Cleveland Cavaliers pulled off one of their most encouraging wins of the season, downing the Denver Nuggets 119-117.

All grades are based on our usual expectations for each player.

Donovan Mitchell

32 points, 10 assists, 1 rebound, 2 steals, 2 blocks

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Mitchell came out guns blazing in this game. He scored 13 points in the first quarter and entered halftime with 18 overall. Mitchell converted some absurd and-one’s along the way.

Denver adjusted in the second half, blitzing Mitchell and forcing the ball out of his hands. That helped him rack up 10 assists. And, Mitchell was still able to finish the game with 32 points, including the game-winning free throws with less than a second on the clock.

Grade: A+

James Harden

22 points, 7 assists, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks

This was a slightly more aggressive version of Harden than the one we saw in his debut. He made more of an effort to get into the paint, going to his floater to account for his three-point struggles (2-7 shooting).

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Those struggles went away when it mattered most.

Harden buried the 9-1-1 triple to tie the game with under a minute to play. His patented step-back jumper is something we’ve seen countless times in other jerseys. But, if you ask me, it looks so much sweeter in a Cavalier uniform.

Additional credit for his 10 rebounds. The Cavs had a difficult time cleaning the glass tonight, so Harden’s efforts made a difference. And no — that’s not a typo. Harden actually had 3 blocks tonight.

Grade: A+

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Jarrett Allen

22 points, 13 rebounds, 1 assist

Allen was the hero of this road trip. He put in the work each night, scoring a career-high 40 points earlier in the trip and then capping it off by battling Nikola Jokic for a win. Allen defended Jokic as well as you can…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/player-grades-cavs-nuggets-james-050146399.html

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Publish date : 2026-02-10 05:01:00

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