CLEVELAND – With the way things were transpiring down the stretch Tuesday night, analytics were leaning very heavily in
favor of the Dallas Mavericks winning against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
But the analytics unfortunately didn’t work in the Mavs’ favor.
Despite trailing by one point with 2.6 just seconds remaining and no timeouts, the Cavs were able to use an improbable wild 59-foot shot from Max Strus at the buzzer to stun the Mavs, 121-119, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The heartbreaking loss dropped the Mavs to 0-2 on this four-game road trip and 33-25 overall, while the Cavs increased their record to 38-19.
The long heave by Strus came right after the Mavs had taken a 119-118 lead on a basket by P.J. Washington via an assist from Luka Dončić with just 2.6 seconds remaining. The Cavs had no timeouts left, then inbounded the ball to Strus, who simply drained the massive game-winner as time expired.
“We feel like we should have won that game, and to lose like that it definitely hurts,” said Washington, who scored 11 points. “I feel like I got fouled (on the last basket) and then the ball came in and we should have been pressing them up early because they didn’t have any timeouts, either.
“Obviously, it was a lucky shot. You hate to lose that way, but it is what it is.”
Strus’ three-pointer was the second-longest of its kind at the buzzer during the NBA’s three-point era, which started in 1979-80. The longest game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer was converted by New Orleans’ Devonte Graham, who drilled a 61-footer on Dec. 15, 2021 to defeat Oklahoma City at the buzzer.
“Max Strus hurt us in the fourth quarter a lot, but that was just an incredible shot,” said Dončić, who finished with 45 points, nine rebounds, 14 assists and three steals. “A tough way to lose.”
It was an extremely tough way for the Mavs to lose considering they led, 110-100, with 3:58 to go. However, Strus converted five three-pointers down the stretch as the Mavs just couldn’t find a way to shut him down.
Strus finished the game with 21 points while converting 7-of-10 three-pointers. He scored 15 of his points in the fourth quarter, when he played just five minutes.
“He was hot,” said Mavs coach Jason Kidd, whose team will play in Toronto on Wednesday. “Whenever someone’s hot and they shoot it, you just think that maybe it has a chance (to go in).
“You could see his reaction when he let it go (on the last shot). He thought he was making it, so when it went through there’s nothing you can do.”
In his final day as a 24-year old, Dončić was spectacular as he poured in 27 points in the first half when the Mavs trailed 60-56. Doncic wound up converting 17-of-29 shots, including 6-of-11 from beyond the three-point arc.
“We know when we’re playing . . . an Eastern Conference team, fans only get to see us one time, so you definitely want to give them a show and I think Luka did that tonight,” Mavs guard Kyrie Irving said. “I wish we could have gotten a win for his night
before his (25th) birthday, but we’ve got another chance tomorrow to play a better game than we did tonight.”
Irving also put on a show with 30 points and six boards and was 12-of-24 from the field and 5-of-8 from downtown against the team he helped win the 2016 NBA title. But Irving also was involved in a crucial play he wishes he could have back.
On the key play in question, Irving crossed the inbound line after receiving the inbound pass from Tim Hardaway Jr. right after Strus hit a three-pointer. Strus took advantage of that turnover by Dallas and drained yet another triple to get Cleveland within 110-106 of the Mavs.
“I was trying to make eye contact with Timmy just to let him know I was going to take the ball out just to run a few more seconds off the clock, give the ball to the ref, just let it bounce a little bit and make sure that we had everything in terms of our numbers to get a quality offensive possession,” Irving said. “But the ref was like, ‘I know what you were intending to do, but Timmy was out of bounds already.’ So, I was trying to make eye contact, ‘Hold it, hold it, hold it, I’m going to take it out of bounds and then throw it to the ref,’ but it just didn’t turn out that way.
“But that was just a carryover from another turnover that I had prior to that play. That two-minute span was intense for us — back and forth possessions. Basically, I’ve got to take better care of the basketball and be poised down the stretch. That’s the most important thing.”
Irving made amends on the ensuing possession by converting a three-pointer of his own for a 113-106 Dallas lead with 3:16 to go. However, Strus nailed two more three-pointers as Cleveland crawled to within 113-112 of the Mavs at the 2:35 mark.
Donovan Mitchell, who finished with 31 points, seven rebounds and six assists, gave the Cavs a 115-113 lead with a three-pointer.
Back-and-forth the two teams went, as Mitchell banked in an improbable three-pointer to give Cleveland a 118-115 lead with 29.8 seconds left. A floater in the lane by Irving helped the Mavs inch to within 118-117 of the Cavs with 23.8 seconds to go.
The Cavs then turned the ball over with 8.3 seconds left, opening the door for the Mavs to take the lead, which they did on Washington’s crucial go-ahead bucket underneath the basket. But the Cavs got the game’s last shot – and last bucket – when Strus tossed the ball up from the opposite side of midcourt and had his prayer answered.
“Give Cleveland credit,” Kidd said. “They kept playing. But I thought our group did a great job of responding, even though the shot that they made there beyond half court is the game-winner. To be able to execute down the stretch and to be able to score both times when we had to, and to come up with the stop two times, we made them call timeout and then we get the turnover and then we executed to go ahead.
“Now the next thing is we got to understand they had no timeouts. So, we’ve got to press up and make them go backwards and not let them come forward.”
Dončić and Irving were terrific in a losing effort.
“You look at what Luka is doing right now, he can score on anybody in the league as you can see,” Kidd said.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a big or a small, he’s going to put you in an iso position to dance. And if you’re going to dance with him, he’s going to get the better hand of it.
“I thought he did a great job of being able to score, but also finding his teammates when he needed to. And I thought he played a great game and he put us in a position to win.”
Still, with Cleveland shooting 53 percent from the field and converting 20-of-40 shots from behind the three-point line, it was only fitting for the Cavs that they would win this game on a near-impossible shot at the buzzer behind half court while defying analytics.
X: @DwainPrice
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