Cleveland Cavaliers forward Max Strus averages nearly three 3-pointers per game, and his most important shot of the season came on Tuesday night against the Dallas Mavericks.
The sequence began with Dallas inbounding the ball from the far side line with 8.3 seconds left in the game. Luka Doncic recovered the loose ball and P.J. Washington made an easy layup under the basket for a one-point lead with 2.6 seconds left.
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Cleveland Cavaliers guard looks at the winning basket at the buzzer next to Dallas Mavericks guard No. 77 Luka Doncic during an NBA basketball game on Tuesday, February 27, 2024 in Cleveland, # 1 Max Strass. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Strass took the ball out of bounds. He gave it to Evan Mobley before taking it. Stas prayed desperately toward the basket from 59 feet.
And it went in.
After the shot, Strauss’ Cavaliers teammates gave him a mush as Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse erupted in jubilation. Cleveland won the game 121-119.
Strus said afterward that he had to get the ball up in the air and knew it would go into the basket when it left his hands.
“The last five felt pretty good,” he said. “I felt a rhythm. It’s fun to do that. Every time I took a shot, it felt like it was going in. And it went in. The last shot was the same.”
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Max Strus, right, gets drunk with his teammates while celebrating the winning basket against the Dallas Mavericks during an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, in Cleveland. ). (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
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Donovan Mitchell added 31 points and Strath added 21 points.
“Well, just to see it be successful, especially what he did for us in the fourth, it had to be him as well,” Mitchell said. “You dream of shots like that. So for him to make it after what he did to us all four quarters, it’s a guy.”
Strath’s winner became the second longest winning streak in the three-point era. Devonte Graham makes a 61-foot 3-point shot for the New Orleans Pelicans against the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2021.
With the win, Cleveland improved to 38-19, just ahead of the second-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference.
Dallas finished 8th in the Western Conference with 33 wins and 25 losses.
Cleveland Cavaliers guard #1 Max Strus hits Dallas Mavericks forward #10 Tim Hardaway Jr. during the fourth quarter at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland on February 27, 2024. Decide on a 3-point shot next to. (David Richard-USA TODAY Sports)
“What he did tonight, coming back in the fourth quarter for us to be as good as we are, was just ridiculous,” Cleveland coach JB Bickerstaff said. “But that’s who Max is as a person. And sometimes it’s as simple as chasing down a loose ball or making an extra rotation. Max never gave up and even though we were down, , he had the same mentality.
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“He had no intention of quitting and kept making play after play on both sides.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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