Max Strus hit a true game-winning buzzer-beater from beyond halfcourt to lift the Cavs over the Mavs.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have been the most pleasant surprise of the NBA season. The Cavs’ season seemed to be on the brink when Darius Garland and Evan Mobley both went down with injuries in mid-December, but instead the team ripped off a huge winning streak to move all the way up to the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Cleveland’s meeting with the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night was supposed to be a showdown of two second-tier contenders. A thrilling back-and-forth game ended with a magical moment, when Max Strus hit a shot from beyond halfcourt to give the Cavs a 121-119 victory.
Dallas took the lead with two seconds left when Luka Doncic found teammate P.J. Washington for a layup. The Cavs went the length of the floor without a timeout, and Strus hit an impossible buzzer-beater for the win. Watch the entire closing sequence of the fourth quarter here:
That has to be one of the longest true game-winning buzzer-beaters in recent NBA history. If Strus’ heave missed, the Cavs were taking a tough home loss. Instead, he hit the miracle shot to give his team the win. Strus hasn’t shot the ball from three (33.3 percent coming into the night) quite as well as he hoped to this season after signing a free agency deal away from the Miami Heat, but he’ll take this one as his biggest make of the year.
NBA longest buzzer-beater ever, ranked
Strus’ shot was 59-feet, making it the second longest NBA buzzer-beater ever:
The longest NBA buzzer-beater ever was Devonte’ Graham’s 61-foot game-winner in 2021.
What an incredible moment. The Cavs move to 38-19 with the win. The Mavs fall to 33-25 with the loss.
It’s been a charmed year for the Cavs, and somehow it keeps getting better.
