Cleveland Cavaliers: Grading Every Game 1 Starter

5 of 5

Jun 1, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson (13) battles for the ball with Golden State Warriors center Zaza Pachulia (27) in the first quarter of the 2017 NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

Smith and Thompson were disappointments

J.R. Smith and Tristan Thompson found themselves on the same slide because of just how disappointing they both were.

After scoring the first bucket of the game, J.R. Smith proceeded to go 0-for-3 and score 0 points the remaining 45 minutes. Smith had two turnovers with zero assists and zero rebounds. Dang, it J.R. c’mon.

Thompson, on the hand, was his usual workhorse self; he just had nothing to show for it. He finished with zero points and four rebounds. Thompson only had seven regular season games and one postseason game where he didn’t at least grab five rebounds. He just didn’t have it today, and the Golden State Warriors did a nice job of shutting him down on the offensive boards.

Thompson and Smith’s final grade: F

Must Read: How the 2017 NBA Finals Rubber Match Will Play Out

Game 2 will Sunday back at Oracle and hopefully this time James and Irving can find a bit more help from their starters and bench.