Max Strus on Tuesday drained an astonishing buzzer-beater from 17.7m away as the Cleveland Cavaliers conjured a stunning late fightback to sink the Dallas Mavericks 121-119.
In a remarkable finale in Cleveland, Strus unleashed a mammoth heave from inside his own half to snatch victory from Dallas, who had grabbed a 119-118 lead with just more than two seconds remaining in the game.
Strus’ miraculous effort was the final act of a thrilling fourth-quarter rally by Cleveland, who trailed by 10 with under four minutes left after a superb 45-point performance from Mavs ace Luka Doncic.
Photo: AFP
Strus was the catalyst for the Cavs turnaround, reeling off four straight three-pointers to allow Cleveland to get within one at 113-112 with 2 minutes, 35 seconds remaining.
Back-to-back threes from Donovan Mitchell put Cleveland 118-115 up, but Dallas hit back to regain a one-point lead after a Kyrie Irving jump shot and a P.J. Washington layup.
That set the stage for Strus to unfurl his game-winning three-quarter-court effort to spark pandemonium amongst the home crowd in Cleveland.
“That was awesome,” Strus said. “Great win, we needed it. We’ve been struggling, so it’s good to get one like that.
“We fought, and fought, and fought... We want to win every game and we want to keep winning,” he added.
Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff praised Strus’ role in sparking the late rally when it looked as if the game had slipped away.
“The way that he plays the game with a determination, a never-give-in mentality and attitude — that inspires his teammates every single day,” Bickerstaff said. “He’s just relentless and that elevates his teammates. Everybody leads in their own way on our team; he leads and people follow.”
Mitchell led the Cleveland scoring with 31 points, with Strus finishing with 21. Jarrett Allen added 19 as the Cavaliers secured a win that leaves them second in the Eastern Conference with a 38-19 record.
Meanwhile, Doncic topped Dallas’s scorers with 45 points, adding 14 assists, nine rebounds and three steals. Irving finished with 30 points as Dallas dropped to 33-25, eighth in the Western Conference.
In other games on Tuesday, the league-leading Boston Celtics extended their winning streak to nine games after a 117-99 defeat of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Jaylen Brown (31 points), Jayson Tatum (29) and Kristaps Porzingis (23) led the way for Boston, who improved to 46-12 and lead second-placed Cleveland by 7.5 games.
Tyrese Maxey finished with 32 points for Philadelphia, who have lost eight of 12 games while NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid’s has been absent due to injury.
Philadelphia got to within two points early in the fourth quarter, but Boston responded with a 15-0 run to pull away and effectively ice the game.
“It’s all about how you respond,” Tatum said of the Celtics rally. “We’re learning from our mistakes from last year. We’ve done a really good job of going over those situations in practice.”
In Minnesota, Anthony Edwards’ 34-point total helped the Timberwolves to a 114-105 win against the struggling San Antonio Spurs. Minnesota lead the Western Conference standings 41-17.
In Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 24 points while Damian Lillard added 23 as the Bucks romped to a 123-85 rout of the Charlotte Hornets.
Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers was pleased with his team’s improved display on defense — an area that has been a problem for the team all season.
“I thought we were very physical, our hands were very active. Our deflections over the last four or five games have skyrocketed,” said Rivers, who was also encouraged by the link play of Antetokounmpo and Lillard.
“They’re starting to connect — they’re starting to see each other,” Rivers said. “Those are good signs for us moving forward.”
Meanwhile, Chris Paul made a winning return from injury for Golden State as the Warriors blew past the Washington Wizards 123-112 in the US capital.
Klay Thompson added another impressive display from the bench with 25 points to lead the Warriors scoring.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
LONG TIME COMING: With the addition of Marcus Smart, the Washington Wizards finally held a team to under 100 points, the last team this season to do so The Detroit Pistons on Monday won their seventh straight game in the NBA with in-form Cade Cunningham making 32 points and grabbing nine rebounds in a 106-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Pistons, who are in the playoff position, moved to 32-26, their best record at this stage of a season for 17 years. It was an all-round effort from Detroit with Tobias Harris adding 20 points and Jalen Duren making 19 rebounds along with his 12 points. It was a tight contest until Detroit pulled away late in the third quarter to tie their longest winning streak since the 2014-2015
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