On Sunday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team with the best record in the association, were pushed to the brink by a Portland Trail Blazers squad that had been playing much better basketball as of late. Without Donovan Mitchell, the Cavs needed the rest of the team to pick up the slack, with Ty Jerome putting up 25 points off the bench in another stellar reserve performance en route to a 133-129 overtime win over the Blazers.
Team efforts are always needed to overcome the absence of the team’s best player, and that’s what the Cavs got; in addition to Jerome’s stellar performance off the pine, De’Andre Hunter was also incredible, putting up 32 points to lead all scorers. And Jerome would certainly think that they needed every bit of contribution that they can get, especially when he believes that Cleveland was faced with an eight versus five all afternoon long — even singling out one referee for an especially poor performance.
“I thought the refs were really bad tonight. Especially Natalie, she was really bad,” Jerome said following the Cavs’ win, per Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan.
Jerome is about to be fined a hefty amount by the league for his unfiltered comments regarding the officiating, but it shouldn’t cost him too much in the grand scheme of things. As one would recall, Fred VanVleet, who chastised referee Ben Taylor back in 2023, was fined $30,000. The Cavs guard is about to lose a similar amount of money.
Nonetheless, one can understand why Jerome would feel this way. After all, there simply wasn’t any rhythm to be had for the Cavs all night long, what with the start-stop nature of the game caused by the plenty of ticky-tack fouls that were called. In the end, all’s well that ends well for the league’s best team as they move to 50-10 on the year.
Cavs and Blazers engage in free-throw party
Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
The Cavs and Blazers combined for 70 free-throw attempts on the night, and that does not make for good viewing. It makes for an even poorer playing experience. But for Ty Jerome, all he and his teammates could do is keep their head and stay the course, which is what they did — a hallmark of a team with a winning mentality/culture.
“Stuff like that happens. They kind of lose control of the game, and you just got to keep your head. I thought that first half was ridiculous. Third quarter was horrendous. You just got to keep your head and keep playing,” Jerome added.
