Dribbles: Cavs, Ty Jerome Finding Footing As Preseason Marches On

October 10, 2024

CLEVELAND — Random dribbles from the Cavaliers’ 129-117 home preseason loss to the Pacers on Thursday night. …

1. Well, if the Cavaliers are ever missing five of their top six players moving forward, they should be able to hang with Indiana for a half. That’s about all we really learned on this night.

2. Coach Kenny Atkinson opted to sit Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Caris LeVert. Max Strus (hip, day-to-day) and Sam Merrill (wrist, precautionary) were also held out.

3. Jarrett Allen did, however, suit up and start. Why? “Because he wanted to,” Atkinson said, smiling. “I didn’t want him to. But this how the NBA works.”

4. Allen told Atkinson he needed to find his rhythm. Atkinson told Allen that Allen has 82 games to get into a rhythm. But Atkinson conceded. You can tell the coach kind of liked the fact his starting center wanted to be out there.

5. Anyway, this game was really about getting a look at the players who will be fighting for minutes. Among that group? Ty Jerome, who is likely to be the first point guard off the bench. He admittedly is still finding his legs after missing all but the first game-and-a-half last season.

6. Jerome suffered a major ankle injury that required surgery. “It sucked,” he said. “Not to throw a pity party, but it’s been about a year since (he last played). No fun at all.”

7. He finished with 15 points, eight assists and four rebounds. “Pretty good,” Atkinson said after reading Jerome’s stat line. “He’s rounding into form. Coming back from that injury, it’s not easy. Part of the plan tonight was getting him some good minutes (23 in all).”

8. By the way, Allen went for 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting in 15 minutes. That’s one way to get into a rhythm, right?

9. Watching the game, you may not have known rookie Jaylon Tyson produced 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting, with six boards and four assists. He really battles, though, and he may be forcing Atkinson into some tough decisions.

10. Atkinson on Tyson: “He’s everywhere. Don’t count him out. He’s a find-a-way guy. He’s got a little flair and is a really interesting player for us. He’s gonna put pressure on our regular rotation guys.”

11. Craig Porter Jr. (14 points, 6-of-10 shooting) and Georges Niang (13 points on 5-of-9) also had some nice moments. Isaac Okoro and Dean Wade started and finished with nine points apiece.

12. Niang has been struggling with his shot, so Atkinson texted him some words of encouragement before the game. “I told him it’s not about just making shots,” Atkinson said. “I want him to be a connector for the other players. But guys want to make shots.”

13. In other words, it was good to see more than 50 percent drop for Niang, and that’s the purpose of games like these.

14. Cleveland native and University of Akron product Enrique Freeman brought a fairly large contingent of fans to the game. A second-round pick, he’s now on a two-way contract with the Pacers. So when Freeman buried a corner three, he received a pretty nice round of applause.

15. Freeman looked good in battling his way to nine points and eight rebounds, before being forced to exit with a cramp. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle took the blame, saying he played Freeman too long of a stretch (16 minutes).

16. Finally, I ran into Tristan Thompson in the locker room after the game, and he jokingly reminded me that I was wrong in predicting that the Cavs wouldn’t re-sign him. Little does he know that my mom already got on me about that one.

17. Either way, he’s been the same old Thompson this preseason — fighting for rebounds, making winning plays and leading cheers in the arena when the Cleveland Guardians win playoff games.

18. The Cavs have the next two days off with no practice. They return to preseason action on Thursday, Oct. 18, when they visit J.B. Bickerstaff and the Pistons.