Max Strus hit an incredible 58-foot buzzer-beater as the Cleveland Cavaliers mounted a spectacular late rally to defeat the Dallas Mavericks 121-119 on Tuesday.
In a remarkable finale in Cleveland, Strass hit a huge hive from inside his own half to snatch the victory from Dallas, which took a 119-118 lead with just over two seconds left in the game.
Strus' miraculous shot was the final act in a thrilling fourth-quarter rally that gave Cleveland a 10-point lead with less than four minutes left after a stellar 45-point performance from Mavs ace Luka Doncic. Ta.
Strus sparked a comeback for the Cavs, making four consecutive 3-pointers to bring Cleveland within one point, 113-112, with 2:35 remaining.
Back-to-back threes from Donovan Mitchell gave Cleveland a 118-115 lead, but Dallas fought back and regained a one-point lead on Kyrie Irving's jump shot and P.J. Washington's layup.
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This set Strass up to deploy a game-winning three-quarter court effort that caused havoc among Cleveland's home crowd.
“It was great,” Strass said afterward. “It's a great win. We needed it. We've been struggling so it's good to get a win like this.
“We fought, fought, fought…We want to win every game and we want to keep winning.”
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Cleveland coach JB Bickerstaff praised Strus' role in sparking a late rally that appeared to have the game over.
“His determination, never-give-up mentality and attitude towards the game inspires his teammates every day,” Bickerstaff said.
“He's just relentless and that lifts up his teammates. Everybody leads in their own way on our team. He leads and people follow.”
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Mitchell led Cleveland with 31 points, and Strus finished with 21 points. Jarrett Allen added 19 points for the Cavaliers, who won the game and finished second in the Eastern Conference with a record of 38 wins and 19 losses.
Meanwhile, Doncic topped Dallas' scorers with 45 points, adding 14 assists, nine rebounds and three steals. Irving finished with 30 points as Dallas fell to 8th place in the Western Conference with a 33-25 record.
In other games Tuesday, the league-leading Boston Celtics extended their winning streak to nine games after defeating the Philadelphia 76ers 117-99.
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Jaylen Brown (31 points), Jayson Tatum (29 points) and Kristaps Porzingis (23 points) led Boston, which improved to 46-12 and led second-place Cleveland by 7.5 games.
Tyrese Maxey finished with 32 points for Philadelphia, which lost eight of 12 games with NBA MVP Joel Embiid out with an injury.
Philadelphia got as close as two points early in the fourth quarter, but Boston fought back with a 15-0 run to pull away and effectively end the game.
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“It's all about how you react,” Tatum said of the Celtics' rally. “We're learning from our mistakes last year. We were able to overcome those situations in practice.”
In Minnesota, Anthony Edwards scored 34 points to lead the Timberwolves to a 114-105 victory over the struggling San Antonio Spurs.
Minnesota leads the Western Conference standings with a 41-17 record.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 24 points and Damian Lillard added 23 points as the Bucks defeated the Charlotte Hornets 123-85 in Milwaukee.
Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers was pleased with his team's improved performance on defense, which has been an issue for the team all season.
“I thought we were very physical and very active with our hands. Our deflections have improved tremendously over the last four or five games,” said Rivers, who was encouraged by the combined play of Antetokounmpo and Lillard. said.
“They're starting to connect, they're starting to recognize each other,” Rivers said. “Those are good signs for us moving forward.”
In other games Tuesday, the Warriors defeated the Washington Wizards 123-112 in the U.S. capital, while Golden State saw Chris Paul make a winning return from injury.
Klay Thompson added another impressive performance off the bench, scoring 25 points to lead the Warriors in scoring.
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