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In the closing moments of the Cleveland Cavaliers' 122-108 victory over the Toronto Raptors, MVP chants rained down from Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. However, it wasn't Donovan Mitchell that was receiving praise from fans. Instead, reserve guard Ty Jerome was capping off another night where he put the Cavs on his back. In a night where he poured in 26 points on 9-14, shooing with six assists, Jerome was the best guard on the court in a game featuring Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland.
“I didn’t know how good it would be, but I definitely knew he would have this type of impact for our team,” Cleveland power forward Evan Mobley said. “He’s just a great basketball player. He always makes the right play. He reads the game very quickly, and from there, he just makes the right read. Whatever the defense gives him, he takes it.”
On paper, Jerome is getting the minutes of a role-player. However, his production has been closer to that of a star. Much of that is because of Jerome's incredibly efficient shooting numbers, where he's hitting career-best marks across the board. Although it's early into the season, Jerome has converted 59.7% of his attempts from the floor and 54.4% from beyond the arc. Jerome has been and continues to be the real deal.
“Y’all be saying that like he died and came back to life,” Mitchell said when asked about Jerome rebounding from last season. “For him to come back, not only be a solid player, but be dominant, be a special player for us, it kind of gives us life. He’s just done so much for us on a nightly basis, and I have no doubt he’ll continue to keep this up.”
How Ty Jerome kept the Cavs undefeated at home against the Raptors
Against the New Orleans Pelicans, Jerom had a career night with 29 points on 10 of 19 shooting and 7 of 12 from 3-point range. It helped the Cavs bounce back from their first loss. Against the Raptors, he followed it up with a 26-point outburst. It was the first time he broke the 20-point threshold in back-to-back games.
“I try to always be in that zone,” Jerome said. “It’s just basketball. Basketball is a game of reads. We’re sharing the ball really well. It makes my job easy. If you’re open, shoot, if someone else is open, pass, if you get run off the line, drive it. The focus is always the same. Some nights, you might get more shots than others.”
Through the first 18 games, Jerome is averaging career-best in points (12.6), field goal percentage (59.7%), 3-point percentage (54.4%), assists (3.8), and steals (1.3). Jerome can step in and provide a spark off the bench when the offense stagnates. He's become indispensable to Cleveland's second unit and someone head coach Kenny Atkinson routinely leans on.
“It’s hard to take him out of the game,” Atkinson admitted. “He’s in every conversation at all times. ‘Do we need Ty in there?’ He’s playing phenomenally.”
Time will tell if Jerome's numbers regress to his career averages after his red-hot start to the season. Regardless, without Jerome's consistent effort, the Cavs might not be 17-1. As fans noticed against Toronto, Jerome has been Cleveland's early-season MVP. Hopefully, he will keep it up as the season rolls along.
