Cavs Beat Mavs on Miraculous Buzzer Beater by Strus

In what turned out to be a tightly contested matchup, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Dallas Mavericks battled it out on Tuesday night, as both teams aim to keep climbing up in their Eastern and Western Conference standings before playoff time. Coming into this game we all know both these teams have been scorching hot in 2024. The Cavs had an eight-game win streak in January and then lost a game to the Milwaukee Bucks only to turn around and beat the Bucks two days later and begin another win streak that would go on for nine games from late January until nearly the middle of February when they lost to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Dallas Mavericks have also had a win streak recently as they won seven games in a row earlier this month, but the streak ended this past Sunday when they were defeated by point guard Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis. Let’s take a look at how the Cavaliers won this one. 

The Cavs and Mavs would begin this game fighting hard both ways as the Mavs were only up by one point, 24-23 at the end of the first quarter led by point guard Luka Doncic’s 11 points on seven shot attempts in the quarter. In the second quarter, the Cavs would outscore the Mavs 37-32 to head into halftime with a 60-56 lead. The Cavs were led at the half by shooting guard Donovan Mitchell with 12 points. During the third quarter, neither team would be able to manage to gain a clear upper hand, as the Cavs would lead 83-82 to head into the fourth quarter. The game continued to be nip and tuck at the beginning of the fourth quarter until the Mavs went up by ten points with less than five minutes to go on a made three-pointer by power forward Maxi Kleber. However, this lead would be diminished quickly as Cleveland shooting guard Max Strus got hotter than fire itself. He hit four threes in a row to dig them out of the deficit they were in and put the Cavs down by only one point with nearly two and a half minutes remaining in regulation. Mitchell would then, on Cleveland’s next possession, make a three to put the Cavs up by two points but then Mavericks shooting guard Josh Green would tie it up with a dunk, and then Mitchell would make another three to put the Cavs up 118-115 with 29 seconds left. The Mavs would go on to get two buckets, the first being a floater from shooting guard Kyrie Irving and the second being a layup made by power forward P.J. Washington with two seconds remaining.

I’m sure everyone at this game in Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse could have heard a pin drop in the place after Washington made that layup. Everyone thought the game was over and rightfully so because it should have been. However, the fire that Strus had shown everyone in the fourth quarter was not out yet as he was able to heave up a 59-foot shot before the buzzer sounded. The shot miraculously swished through the hoop, the crowd erupted, and it was declared good by the officials as the Cavs beat the Mavs 121-119 in Cleveland. Cleveland could not have won this one without Strus, who scored 21 points in the game and 15 points in the fourth quarter alone. The Cavs will hope to continue their great play and get another win as they head to Chicago to take on the Bulls tomorrow. The Mavericks will hope to rebound from their first back-to-back losses in nearly a month as they head to Toronto to take on the Raptors tomorrow.