One winning streak came to an end for the Cavaliers on Nov. 19 in Boston. The seeds of another streak were planted one night later when the undermanned Cavs buried the undermanned New Orleans Pelicans, 128-100, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The Cavaliers, 16-1 after bouncing back from the 120-117 loss to the Celtics, are a weary, hobbling basketball team. Darius Garland (groin), Caris LeVert (knee), Isaac Okoro (ankle), Dean Wade (ankle), Sam Merrill (ankle) and Max Strus (ankle) were all listed as out for the game with the Pelicans. Ty Jerome said "I was in the zone" when he scored 27 points for the #Cavaliers Wednesday night in the 128-100 wipeout of the #Pelicans. He said the fans cheering for him gave him freedom to shoot without feeling pressure to make every shot. pic.twitter.com/k3oqhL76Xp — Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) November 21, 2024 The New Orleans injury report was even longer. Nine Pelicans were listed as “out.” Stars Zion Williamson (hamstring) and Brandon Ingram (ankle) were among the Pelicans unavailable. The Pelicans slipped to 4-12. “I’ was nervous as heck before this game,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said. “I’ve seen these games lost. The other team has a lot of guys down and injured. You’re coming off a tough loss. But it showed great maturity from our group led by our vets.” Ty Jerome started in place of Garland and blitzed the Pelicans with 27 of the points that gave the Cavaliers a 69-55 halftime lead. Jerome, who missed all but the first two games of last season with an ankle injury, was 7 of 10 from beyond the arc. He scored 20 of his first half points — 6 of 8 on 3s — in the second quarter. Every time he touched the ball in the final minutes of the quarter, the crowd in the sold out FieldHouse encouraged him to shoot. Jerome finished with 29 points in 23 minutes. “It was great how the crowd got into it,” Atkinson said. “Those moments don’t happen a lot in the NBA when one guy gets it going like that.” Jerome said he “was in the zone.” He fed off the energy from the fans. “It gives you a type of freedom that you don’t always have,” Jerome said. “If you miss, it’s like it’s all right.” Allen scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds in the first eight minutes of the third quarter to help remove any doubt on the outcome. The game with the Pelicans was the fourth in six nights and the third in four nights for the Cavaliers. By the end of the third quarter the Cavs led, 105-73. The blowout gave Atkinson the opportunity to go to the end of his bench — all 10 available players saw action — and rest stars Donovan Mitchell (20 minutes, 10 points), Allen (21 minutes, 16 points, 11 rebounds) and Evan Mobley (18 minutes, nine points, seven rebounds) for most of the second half. Jaylon Tyson, selected by the Cavaliers with the 20th pick in the NBA draft, started in place of injured Wade and scored 16 points in 37 minutes. It was the first start of Tyson’s NBA career. He played in only six of the first 16 games and never played more than eight minutes before Nov. 20. Georges Niang scored 20 points off the bench in 22 minutes. J.T. Thor scored 12 points  in 12 minutes off the bench. The 15-0 record the Cavs took into Boston was tied with the 1948-49 Washington Capitols and the 1993-94 Houston Rockets for the second-best start in NBA history. The 2015-16 Warriors have the record with their 24-0 start. If things continue to go well for the Cavaliers, they will be on a four-game winning streak when they get a rematch with the Celtics — this time at the FieldHouse on Dec. 1. Between now and then they host the Raptors (3-12) on Nov. 24, the Hawks (7-8) on Nov. 27 and play the Hawks again in Atlanta on Nov. 29.