Max Strus Pulled Up From Beyond Halfcourt To Beat The Mavs At The Buzzer

Max Strus had the best fourth quarter of his life on Tuesday night, and as a result, the Cleveland Cavaliers were able to pick up a 121-119 win over the Dallas Mavericks. With Cleveland needing a shot in the arm on the offensive end to defend its homecourt, Strus scored 15 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, including four made threes in just over a minute to pull the Cavs within one point late in the frame.

Ultimately, Cleveland was able to get out ahead, but with two seconds remaining, Luka Doncic found P.J. Washington for a layup under the rim to give Dallas a 119-118 lead. With no timeouts remaining and both Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland on the bench, Strus inbounded the ball to Evan Mobley, got it back, took a dribble, and launched from well behind halfcourt. It looked good leaving his hand, and he didn’t even need the backboard.

Strus, the team’s high-profile acquisition this past offseason via a sign-and-trade, got his 21 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the field, with all seven of his makes coming from behind the three-point line. The first six, it must be said, were from a whole lot closer than his seventh one.