Max Strus pulls off a miracle as Cavaliers stun Mavs 121-119

BY TIM SHIRER

CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER

(CLEVELAND, OH) - The Cleveland Cavaliers (38-19, 20-10) returned home to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Tuesday night after picking up a win on Sunday night in Washington D.C. against the Wizards 114-105. The Dallas Mavericks (33-25, 15-12 away) were waiting.

Entering Tuesday night’s contest, the Cavaliers held a 44-40 all-time series lead over the Mavs. The Cavs also held a 24-18 lead at Home (Richfield Coliseum, RMFH). The two teams met one time this season on December 27 in Dallas and the Cavs won the game 113-110. Both teams knew entering the game it was going to be a fight between two of the best teams in the NBA and it was just that as the Cavs courtesy of a Max Strus half court prayer sent the Cavs home a winner 121-119.

Both teams couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn in their first couple possessions, the Mavericks got on the board first with a short jumper by Derrick Lively II with 10:26 left on the clock. At the other end the Cavs basket looked like it had a lid on it, but Evan Mobley was tough inside getting two offensive rebounds and then hitting Darius Garland outside the three-point line. Garland took advantage and gave the Cavs a 3-2 lead with 9:56 left in the first. The Cavs went up 10-9 with 7:06 left on a dunk by Mobley. Just 30 seconds later the Mavs were back on top 12-10 when former Cavs Kyrie Irving, who received a nice hand from the RMFH crowd prior to the game hit a three pointer from the corner with 6:36 left. Cavs coach JB Bickerstaff took a timeout. During the timeout the Cavs played a tribute to Irving on the scoreboard and acknowledges his contributions to the 2016 team and he received another nice round of applause, some standing from the RMFH crowd. The Mavericks extended their lead to 18-12 with 5:34 left on another Lively layup. The Cavs then made a run and tied the game 20-20 with 1:45 left on a Georges Niang three pointer. The two clubs traded baskets for the next 1:45 until the quarter ended with the Mavs leading 24-23. Luka Doncic led all scorers with 11 first quarter points. Donovan Mitchell and Garland led the Cavs with four points apiece. The Mavericks outpaced the Cavs on the boards 15-13 in the first 12 minutes.

The Cavs regained the lead 25-24 just :37 into the second quarter when Caris LeVert hit a jumper. The Cavs extended the lead to 35-28 with 8:29 left in the half when Garland hit Niang with a nice pass in the paint and Niang laid it in the basket. The Cleveland lead ballooned to ten points at 41-31 with 7:05 left on the clock in the half when Mitchell hit a three pointer from the left side of the arc. Dallas coach Jason Kidd had seen enough and called a timeout. After the timeout the Cavs lead built to 13 when Mitchell hit another three with 6:38 left. After Doncic cut the lead to 11 with a basket, Niang went down to the other end and hit a three giving the Cavs a 14 point lead at 47-33 with 5:56 left on the second quarter clock. With 4:52 left Dallas cut the lead to 49-39 on a three pointer in the corner from newly acquired PJ Washington, Jr. with 4:54 left. With the Cavs leading 53-41 the Mavs had a chance to cut the lead to ten, but Strus would have none of it as he emphatically smacked away a Doncic layup and at the other end of the fast break Mitchell hit a three giving the Cavs a 56-41 lead with 3:10 left in the half. Kidd immediately took a timeout. In their first possession after the timeout the Mavs cut the lead to 12 points on a three by Doncic. After a Cavs turnover by Mitchell Strus fouled Maxi Kleber, Kelber hit one of two to cut the Cavs lead to 56-45 with 2:09 left. The Cavs were cold offensively and Dallas took advantage as Doncic hit a three and cut the Cleveland lead to 56-48 with 1:58 left. With 1:23 left after Allen hit two free throws for Cleveland, Doncic hit another three cutting the Cleveland lead to 58-51 with 1:26 remaining. With :18.5 left Doncic hit another three, his third of the first half to cut the Cleveland lead to 60-56, which is what the score was when the halftime break commenced. Doncic was on fire in the first half, scoring 27 points to lead everyone. He shot 60% (9 of 15) from the field and was perfect (5 of 5) from the free throw line. Mitchell led the Cavs with 13 first half points. The Cavs outrebounded the Mavs 11-5 in the second quarter to have a 24-20 halftime advantage on the boards. Points in the paint were even with both clubs having 18, it was definitely a game of outside shooting in the first 24 minutes. Cleveland’s bench had the advantage, outscoring the Dallas reserves 22-7.

Dallas continued to be hot to start the second half and with 10:49 left in the third period Lively tied the game 60- 60 on a hook shot in the paint. After both teams traded baskets and turnovers Allen put the Cavs back on top 64-62 on a dunk with 9:29 left. Mitchell put the Cavs up 67-63 with 8:22 left on a three pointer on a nice pass from Strus. The Mavs responded and regained the lead 68-67 with 7:27 left on a three pointer from Irving. Dallas then extended the lead to 70-67 on a layup from Doncic. Donci then taunted the Cavs and was accessed a technical foul with 6:58 left in the third period. For the next several minutes the lead went back and forth with the Mavs taking a 75-74 lead on a Doncic layup with 4:44 remaining. The Cavs came right back with 4:04 left and took a 77-75 lead on a three by Mitchell. With 3:21 left the Mavs were back on top after two consecutive baskets by Doncic 79-77. Dallas extended their lead to 82-79 with 1:49 left when Derrick Jones, Jr hit one of two free throws after being fouled by Isaac Okoro. With :38 left on the clock in the quarter, Caris LeVert hit a jumper to give the Cavs an 83-82 lead after three quarters. Doncic continued to be hot in the third quarter and had 35 through three. Irving also had 20 points to that point. Mitchell led the Cavs with 20 and Allen had 17. The Cavs continued to own the boards 39-30.

The Cavs scored the first two baskets of the final quarter courtesy of Mobley giving the Cavs an 87-82 lead with 11:44 left. With 9:29 left in the game and the Cavs leading 91-86 the NBA narrative of the officials taking over the game began. First Garland was run into Lively while taking the ball over the timeline and was charged with an offensive foul, the Mavericks then scored. After a Mitchell turnover the Maves cut the Cleveland lead to 91-90. Then Niang hit a three pointer and was called for an offensive foul, it was overturned on a challenge by Cavs coach JB Bickerstaff. The Cavs took advantage and took a 93-90 lead on a pullup jumper by Mitchell with 8:37 left. After Doncic tied it with a three and Mitchell gave the Cavs a 95-93 lead, Irving hit a three to put Dallas back on top 96-95 with 7:36 left. Mobley was fouled with 7:25 left and the Cavs regained the lead as he hit both free throws and the back on forth final seven minutes were underway. The Mavericks extended their lead to 102-98 with 6:42 left on a fadeaway jumper by Tim Hardaway, Jr. The lead was extended further with 6:12 left when Doncic hit another three and gave the Mavs a 105-98 lead. Once again, the officials took over. With 4:38 left the Mavericks began to pull away after Kleber hit a three pointer to give Dallas a 108-98 lead. With 3:40 left Strus cut the Dallas lead to 110-103 and then Irving stepped on the line inbounding the ball giving it back to his former team, Strus then drained another three to cut the Dallas lead to 110-106. After Irving drained a three on the other end, Garland responded with a three of his own. Irving was stifled at the other end on a block by Mitchell and the Cavs cut the Dallas lead to 113-112 with 2:35 when Strus drained another three, his sixth of the game and fourth in the quarter sending the sellout crowd into a frenzy. With 1:51 left the crowd was on the edge insanity when Mitchell drained a three and the Cavs regained the lead 115-113.

Dallas tied the game at 115-115 with :45 left after a turnover by Mitchell and a give and go by Doncic to Josh Green in the paint. Mitchell said not so fast cowboys as he sent the crowd into hysteria with a three at the other end to give the Cavs a 118-115 lead with :28.9 left. Mavs coach Kidd took a timeout. The Mavs cut the Cavs lead to 118-117 with :23 left on a floater by Irving. After the Cavs turned the ball over on a bad inbound pass by Mobley PJ Washington dropped in an easy layup giving the Mavericks what looked like a clinching 119-118 lead with :02.6 left. The Cavs were out of timeouts, the ball was inbounded and Mobley this time he made a great pass to Strus before the half court line (59 feet from the hoop), Strus let it go in what seemed like slow motion the ball swished through the net, the second longest buzzer beater to win a game in NBA history giving the Cavs a 121-119 win sending the crowd into complete delirium after watching what was maybe the best Cavs win of an already great season.

Mitchell led the Cavs with 31 points and Strus had 21 including five three pointers in the fourth quarter including the game winner. Allen had 19 points and nine rebounds, Mobley also had nine boards as the Cavs outrebounded Dallas 47-36. Doncic led all scorers with 45 points in the loss along with 14 assists and nine rebounds. Irving had 30 points.

The Cavs will be in action next on Wednesday night in Chicago against the Bulls (27-30, 16-15 home) at the United Center at 8 pm. The Bulls and Cavs have met three times previously this season and the Cavs have won all three contests. The last meeting was on February 14 at RMFH which the Cavs won 108-105.