Max Strus’ 59-foot buzzer-beater over Luka Dončić leads Cavaliers past Mavericks | Top Vip News

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CLEVELAND – Evan Mobley’s greatest pass ever, Caris LeVert’s worst tackle and just the second-best game-winning buzzer-beater pass in Max Strus’ nearly 28 years on this planet.

This is what the chaos looked like Tuesday night in Cleveland.

Strus unleashed a 59-footer just before time expired, running it out and leading his Cavaliers to a thrilling 121-119 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. That’s a shot several steps behind the half-court line and, according to ESPN Stats and Info, the second-longest game-winning shot at the buzzer in NBA history.

“I did it,” Strus said when asked if he knew his shot was going to be good. “I don’t even know what happened next.”

Well, Max, you ran towards your own basket in a state of euphoria and shock. LeVert chased you and tried to wrap you up, but the video replay shows you tackled him just as much as he tackled you. The Cavs, in a way, avoided a veritable dogpile, but most of Strus’s teammates were all over him, yelling who knows what, in complete disbelief at what they had just seen.

“I don’t know what I said on the microphone (after the game),” said Donovan Mitchell, who was not in the game for Strus’ game-winning goal. “If Bally Sports has it, make sure it’s edited.”

The last 30 seconds of this game were drunk. It started with Mitchell hitting a three-pointer for a 118-115 lead. Kyrie Irving, the former Cavalier who has the biggest shot in franchise history, hit a short jumper with 23.8 seconds left, which of course gave the ball back to the Cavs, with the shot clock off. Dallas didn’t need to foul right away and opted to apply pressure, nearly tying up Darius Garland for a jumper on a play in which Cleveland insisted Garland was fouled. The Cavs used their final timeout to save the possession, but coming out of it, Mobley fumbled the ball.

The Mavericks, as expected, went after Luka Dončić (game-high 45 points, 14 assists, nine rebounds), but Maxi Kleber’s pass was nearly intercepted by Mobley. Dončić corralled him and, instead of taking the shot himself, passed to an open PJ Washington for a layup with 2.6 seconds left.

“I felt like, damn, deflated, because I don’t expect Max to make a full-court shot,” Mitchell said. “But at the end of the day, that’s why you play until the last seconds.”

Yeah, about those, the last two seconds and change. Out of timeouts, Strus threw it to Mobley in the attacking zone, who immediately returned it to Strus (and later agreed that it was the best, or at least the smartest, pass he’s ever thrown). . With his momentum carrying him toward the basket, Strus uncorked one over Dončić’s hand and watched as he stayed his course all the way through the rim.

Ball game.

“Get up,” Strus said, when asked what was going through his mind when Mobley passed him the ball. “I had space, I don’t know. “I just shot.”
Strus also reminded reporters that he had done this before.

“At my Division II (college), I made a three-quarter-court shot to win the game,” he said. Strus went to Lewis, a small school in Illinois, before transferring to DePaul. “I think he was number one on ESPN.”

Fifty-nine-foot prayers aside, Strus fought the Cavs back from the jaws of a tough loss. Leading by as many as 15 points in the first half, Cleveland found itself down 10 points with about four minutes left when Strus emerged. He responded with four consecutive 3-pointers, reducing the deficit to one, and scored 15 of his 21 points in the final frame, all on 3-pointers. Each of Strus’ seven field goals was from behind the arc, and one was also behind the timeline and the center line. He was 5-of-5 from 3 in the final 3:42 of the game.

“What he did tonight was absolutely ridiculous, but that’s what Max is,” said a hoarse JB Bickerstaff, who needs some Halls and herbal tea, statistically, for the Cavs’ next game Wednesday night at Chicago. “Max never gives up. We were depressed and he had the same mentality. He was not going to resign.”

Mitchell led the Cavs with 31 points and Jarrett Allen contributed 19 points and nine rebounds. Cleveland (38-19) remained one game ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks for second place in the Eastern Conference.

After winning seven straight, the Mavericks (33-25) have now lost two in a row and will play again Wednesday in Toronto.

“I can honestly say this is the first time I’ve lost on a half-court shot,” Irving said. “Just someone shooting from three quarters of the court and it goes towards the net, without touching anything. So it’s an unfortunate circumstance. “We executed down the stretch, we gave ourselves a chance to win the game.”

In a game that is decided by the final shot, every play counts. To that end, Irving committed an unusual turnover that cost the Mavs. With Strus just beginning his fourth-quarter 3-point barrage (he made four in 66 seconds), Irving was said to be in play when he caught a pass from Tim Hardaway Jr. after Strus’ first 3-pointer. to get the ball in and Irving wanted to be the one to throw it, but a referee said he was already in play when he caught the ball from Hardaway before crossing the line.

“We put ourselves in a position to beat one of the best teams in the league, not just in the Eastern Conference, but in the league, and we came up short,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said.

Required reading

(Photo: Jason Miller/Getty Images)

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