Cleveland Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome unsurprisingly got punished by the NBA over his criticism of the officiating during his team’s Sunday contest against the Portland Trail Blazers.
On Monday, the NBA announced in an official statement that it was imposing a $25,000 fine on Jerome over his comments. The Cavs’ sixth man claimed the referees were “really bad” and singled out 6th-year NBA official Natalie Sago for being “especially” poor during Cleveland’s 133-129 win at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. You can read Jerome’s full comments here.
In Sunday’s Blazers-Cavaliers game, a combined 53 fouls were called, resulting in 70 free throws. Both figures are around double the league average for a single game.
The Cavs entered the matchup with a nine-game winning streak. Cleveland trailed by 18 points later in the third quarter before clawing its way back in the second half.
Jerome was a huge part of the comeback, tallying 18 of his 25 points over the last two quarters. He also finished with a career-high six steals.
De’Andre Hunter, who was a teammate of Jerome at Virginia, led all scorers with a season-high 32 points.
