Shorthanded Cavaliers get back on track with blow out of Pelicans 128-100

BY TIM SHIRER

CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER

(CLEVELAND, OH) - On Tuesday night the Cleveland Cavaliers were shorthanded at the TD Bank Garden in Boston and their franchise record and second best start in NBA history 15 game winning streak ended with a 120-117 loss to the Boston Celtics. On Wednesday night they had more players out as Isaac Okoro, Darius Garland, Dean Wade, Caris LeVert and Sam Merrill were all sidelined as they welcomed the also hobbling New Orleans Pelicans to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. On the same day the Cavaliers franchise announced that they were applying for a WNBA expansion franchise the shorthanded Cavs blew out the Pelicans 128-100.

Cavs 2024 first round pick Jaylon Tyson made his first start for the Cavs and with 11:11 left on the first quarter clock Tyson scored his first points as a starter. Tyson had previously played in six of the Cavs first 16 games. Then with 7:07 left in the first quarter Tyson hit a three from the corner giving the Cavs a 14-8 lead. 2024 second round pick Luke Travers entered the game with 5:38 left in the first. He made an immediate impact as he cut through the paint for a dunk with 4:49 left giving the Cavs a 20-14 lead. The Cavs extended their lead to 23-14 with 3:55 left when Ty Jerome drained a three from in front of the New Orleans bench. As the quarter ended the Cavs led 29-24. The Pelicans Yves Missi led all scorers with eight first quarter points. Jerome led the Cavs with seven. The Pelicans edged the Cavs on the boards in the first 12 minutes 12-11. Points in the paint were an even 14-14.

As the second quarter commenced the score remained close. With 8:41 left Tyson scored on a put back to give the Cavs a 40-24 lead. At that point the rookie out of the University of California was leading the Cavs with nine points. Then with 7:21 left Tyson got a rebound and knocked it out to Jerome behind the three point arc, Jerome drained the three to give the Cavs their largest lead to that point at 47-36 giving Tyson the assist. The Pelicans responded with two consecutive three pointers to cut the Cavs lead to 47-41 with 6:35 left on the clock in the opening half. With 5:01 left on a pass from Tristan Thompson, Jerome drained his fourth three point basket of the half giving the Cavs a 53-43 lead. The Cavs once again built the lead to 11 points at 58-47 with 2:20 left on the clock. The Cavs then went up by 12 points at 61-49 when Jerome hit his fifth three of the half and had 21 points with 1:54 remaining. Jerome remained hot as a Volcano hitting his seventh three of the first half with :54 left giving the Cavs a 67-51 lead. When time ran out in the half the Cavs led 69-55 led by Jerome’s 27 point first half a career high in points in a game. Jerome led all scorers he was the only Cav in double figures. The Pelicans had two scorers in double figures. Antonio Reeves had 17 and Missi had 10. The Pelicans continued to win the battle of the glass, outrebounding the Cavs 23-21. The Cavs shot 53% (27 of 51) from the field. While the Pelicans shot 46% (21 of 46). The Cavs were scorching from behind the three point line as the shot 55% (12 of 22) and the Pelicans struggled shooting just 23% (3 of 13). Point in the paint were even at 30-30 and the Pelicans bench outscored the Cleveland bench 17-10 in the first 24 minutes.

The first minutes of the second half were back and forth as the two teams traded baskets. The Cavs then ran the score to 77-56 with 9:41 left on layup by Jarrett Allen. With 6:09 left the Cavs pretty much ended any doubt who would win the game as they built their lead to 88-60 on a three by Georges Niang on an assist by Craig Porter, Jr. Pelicans coach Willie Green took an immediate timeout. With :36 left in the quarter Niang got into a scuffle with the Pelicans Jamal Cain. Cain was accessed a person foul. Niang hit both free throws to give the Cavs a 105-72 lead. The quarter ended with the Cavs leading 105-73. Jerome led all scorers with 29, Niang had 20. Reeves paced the Pelicans with 23.

With 10:38 left in the final quarter every Cavs player had scored when JT Thor dropped the ball in the basket in the paint giving the Cavs a 108-76 lead. The fourth quarter was all about the Cavs guys who don’t get a lot of playing time getting some good minutes as the Cavs defeated the Pelicans 128-100. Reeves led all scorers in the game with 34 in a losing effort. Jerome led the Cavs with a career high of 29 points. The Cavs shot 53% (49 of 93) from the field and that was the difference in the game as the Pelicans shot 42% (39 of 92). The Cavs also destroyed New Orleans from behind the three point line shooting 43% (18 of 42) while the Pelican shot 26% (8 of 31). The Cavs bench outscored the New Orleans bench 48-45 and the Cavs won the battle in the paint 58-54 along the battle of the boards, out rebounding the Pelicans 53-40 and 32-17 in the second half.

The Cavs will be in action next on Sunday at RMFH when they take on the Toronto Raptors (3-12, 3-4 road) at 7:30 pm. The Cavs are 57-51 all-time against the Raptors and are 32-21 at RMFH. The Cavs throttled the Raptors in Toronto on opening night of the 2024-25 season 136-106.