Max Strus put out his hopes and prayers, and it appears the basketball gods answered the Cavaliers’ shooting guard Tuesday night with a last-second shot.
With the Cavaliers trailing 119-118, Strus took a shot beyond half court, but the shot went clean into the basket as time expired as Cleveland defeated the Mavericks, 121-119. It has passed.
The game-winning sequence of events occurred just after the Mavericks took a one-point lead with 2.6 seconds left.
However, when the Cavs got their final possession, Strass inbounded the ball to Evan Mobley, who quickly returned the ball to Strass.
The shooting guard stepped forward and bounced the ball, hitting Mavericks star Luka Doncic with a desperate heavy shot to the other side of the floor that sent the home crowd into a frenzy the moment it went in.
Strauss then ran excitedly to the other side of the floor as his teammates jostled him in celebration.
Statistics and information by ESPNThis 59-foot hit was the second longest final shot to the buzzer in the 3-point era.
“[Donovan Mitchell] “He was out of the game, so someone else had to step up,” Strus told Bally Sports Cleveland after the win. “We’re lucky Don got away because he could have shot him.”
“That was amazing. A great win, we needed it,” added Strass, who was doused with water by teammates. “We’ve been struggling. It’s good to get something like that. We fought, fought, fought. In the end a tough opponent turns the ball over and they get a basket. We were late, but it doesn’t matter if we win the game.”
Strus finished the game with 21 points as he made 7 of 12 field goals and all of his shots came on the back of his 3-pointers.
He also had four rebounds, four assists, and a team-high two blocks.
His effort got Ohio State native Travis Kelce very excited.
“Straight cash!!! They got the juice now!! @cavs” Chiefs tight end wrote about X In response to Patrick Mahomes’ post about the bucket and it.
The Cavs had lost three of their previous five games, but this victory marked their second straight victory.
They currently sit in second place in the Eastern Conference with 38 wins and 19 losses.
