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By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Cleveland Cavaliers bounced back from their disappointing loss to the Boston Celtics and vented their ire on the New Orleans Pelicans, 128-100, in the ongoing NBA regular season on November 21, 2024.
Fresh off a record-ending defeat at the hands of the reigning NBA champs, the Cavaliers quickly buckled to work and showed mercy as they crushed the injury-riddled New Orleans team from start to finish.
After a slow start, the Cavaliers turned it up in the second frame, dropping a game-high 40-point second-quarter explosion which led to a 14-point lead at the end of the half.
Heroes were aplenty for the Eastern Conference powerhouse as six of their players all reached double digits in scoring but it was emerging shooting guard Ty Jerome who stole the limelight after setting his new NBA record in points.
Jerome bounced back from a quiet 10-point contribution against the Celtics and torched the Pelicans with 29 big markers, his new career-high since entering the league.
The savvy scorer was draining shots from everywhere on the court and achieved an efficient 10/19 shooting from the field including seven made three-pointers.
Jerome also had a perfect trip to the charity stripe, sinking all of his two attempts while tallying three rebounds and an assist.
In just the first two quarters of the game, Jerome already scored 27 markers, steering the Cavaliers to a hot second-frame outing where they started to pull away from the game.
Jerome could’ve scored more, but the Cleveland coaching staff decided to pull out all of their starters as the game already turned into a lopsided affair.
Jaylon Tyson, a part of the Cavaliers bench mob, also stepped up to the challenge after playing the most minutes in his entire NBA career.
The high leaping small forward logged in 37 minutes in the game and ended up with his own version of a career-high, dropping 16 points, 11 rebounds, seven dimes, and two steals.
On the other hand, the Pelicans entered the battlefield without all of their superstar cores and only relied on Antonio Reeves’ 34-point explosion that kept them within striking distance in the first half.