The Cleveland Cavaliers appeared to be circling down the drain when they trailed the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday by as many as 18 points in the second half. With Donovan Mitchell not in uniform due to a scheduled rest, the Cavs looked as though their nine-game win streak would come to an end. However, De’Andre Hunter and Ty Jerome had other plans.
The two former Virginia Cavaliers showed Cleveland the way out of a tunnel in the second half. Hunter scored 19 points in the final two quarters while Jerome chipped in 18 in the same span. Overall, Hunter and Jerome had 32 and 25 points in the game, respectively.
Hunter’s huge second half earned him praises, including one from Jerome.
“That’s why we traded for him,” Jerome said of Hunter following the Blazers game, per Bob Finnan of The Chronicle-Telegram.
Hunter continues to make the Cavs’ front office look genius, as he’s been a consistent contributor to Cleveland while also carrying a high upside to do more. Just take for example his performance in the Blazers game in which he capitalized on having a bigger usage due to Mitchell’s absence.
In addition to his points, Hunter also had seven rebounds and a steal while shooting 8-for-15 from the field, 5-for-9 from behind the arc and 11-for-12 from the free-throw line. So far in his tenure with the Cavs, Hunter is averaging 16.0 points on a 52.0 field goal percentage. He is also knocking down his 3-pointers at an incredibly high clip, making them on a 59.5 percent success rate.
Hunter’s impressive run so far with the Cavaliers shouldn’t be absolutely surprising Jerome, who had seen the forward do wonderful things during their time together with the Hoos. The two also played big roles in Virginia’s national title run in 2019 before the two got picked in the first round of that year’s NBA draft. Hunter was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers (fourth overall), while the Philadelphia 76ers took Jerome (24th overall).
Now on a 10-game win streak, the Cavs will look to extend their undefeated run to 11 contests when they pay the Chicagoi Bulls a visit in Windy City this coming Tuesday.
