MAX SRUS DRAINED an astonishing 58-foot buzzer-beater as the Cleveland Cavaliers conjured a stunning late fightback to sink the Dallas Mavericks 121-119 on Tuesday.
In a remarkable finale in Cleveland, Strus unleashed a mammoth heave from inside his own half to snatch victory from Dallas, who had grabbed a 119-118 lead with just over two seconds remaining in the game.
WHAT A SHOT!
— NBA (@NBA) February 28, 2024
Max Strus wins it in Cleveland with a HALFCOURT SHOT at the buzzer 🚨 #TissotBuzzerBeater #YourTimeDefinesYourGreatness pic.twitter.com/EPtvANMNhr
Strus’s miraculous effort was the final act of a thrilling fourth quarter rally by Cleveland, who trailed by 10 with under four minutes left after a superb 45-point performance from Mavs ace Luka Doncic.
MAX STRUS.
— NBA (@NBA) February 28, 2024
COLD. 🚨🥶 pic.twitter.com/PzPx4N4kZX
Strus was the catalyst for the Cavs turnaround, reeling off four straight three-pointers to allow Cleveland to get within one at 113-112 with 2min 35sec remaining.
Back-to-back threes from Donovan Mitchell put Cleveland 118-115 up but Dallas hit back to regain a one-point lead after a Kyrie Irving jump shot and a P.J. Washington layup.
That set the stage for Strus to unfurl his game-winning three-quarter-court effort to spark pandemonium amongst the home crowd in Cleveland.
“That was awesome,” Strus said afterwards. “Great win, we needed it. We’ve been struggling so it’s good to get one like that.
“We fought, and fought, and fought… we want to win every game and we want to keep winning.”
Celtic extend streakÂ
In other games on Tuesday, the league-leading Boston Celtics extended their winning streak to nine games after a 117-99 defeat of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Jaylen Brown (31 points), Jayson Tatum (29) and Kristaps Porzingis (23) led the way for Boston, who improved to 46-12 and lead second-placed Cleveland by 7.5 games.
Tyrese Maxey finished with 32 points for Philadelphia, who have lost eight of 12 games in NBA MVP Joel Embiid’s injury absence.
Philadelphia got to within two points early in the fourth quarter, but Boston responded with a 15-0 run to pull away and effectively ice the game.
“It’s all about how you respond,” Tatum said of the Celtics rally. “We’re learning from our mistakes from last year. We’ve done a really good job of going over those situations in practice.”
In Minnesota, Anthony Edwards’ 34-point total helped the Timberwolves to 114-105 win against the struggling San Antonio Spurs.
Minnesota lead the Western Conference standings 41-17.
In Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 24 points while Damian Lillard added 23 as the Bucks romped to a 123-85 rout of the Charlotte Hornets.
Chris Paul made a winning return from injury for Golden State as the Warriors blew past the Washington Wizards 123-112 in the US capital.
Klay Thompson added another impressive display from the bench with 25 points to lead the Warriors scoring.
