Strus was a nightmare for Mavs during Cavs’ victory

CLEVELAND – Simply put, Tuesday was one of those what could go wrong kind of endings for the Dallas Mavericks.

Up by one point on Cleveland with just 2.6 seconds remaining – and with the Cavaliers out of timeouts – probably everyone, including the Cavs, generally figured the Mavs had this game in the bag. But Cavs forward Max Strus reached in his bag of tricks and poured in a shocking 59-footer at the buzzer to beat the Mavs, 121-119, in stunning fashion at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Strus did a number on the Mavs. Not only did he bury the game-winning three-pointer from the other side of midcourt. But he also knocked down five consecutive three-pointers, although he only played five minutes in the fourth quarter.

“He caught fire,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said of Strus. “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. He thought he was making it, so when it went through there’s nothing you can do.”

Strus played 26 minutes and scored 21 points while converting 7-of-10 shots from beyond the three-point arc. He was especially dialed in during the fourth quarter when he kept the Cavs in the game at a time when the Mavs – leading 110-100 with 3:58 left – seemingly had things in order.

“Max Strus hurt us in the fourth quarter a lot, but that was just an incredible shot,” Mavs point guard Luka Dončić said. “(That was) a tough way to lose.”

A very tough way to lose, particularly considering Strus scored just three points and was 0-of-3 from downtown in the Cavs’ 114-105 win over the Washington Wizards on Sunday. But on Tuesday, a different Max Strus showed up for work, and the Mavs couldn’t contain him.

“That was rough, obviously, but we’ve got our next (game on Wednesday in Toronto),” Dončić said. “That’s the beauty of basketball. We’ve got the next one (Wednesday), so we’ve got to bounce back.”

Here are the three takeaways from Tuesday’s two-point loss to the Cavs.

PRE-BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION WAS HISTORIC: On the day before he turned 25 years old, Mavs point guard Luka Doncic put on an NBA 2K-type of show for the sellout crowd of 19,432. Dončić finished the game with 45 points, nine rebounds, 14 assists and three steals. No one has ever created such a stat line in NBA history. Dončić played 41 minutes and was 17-of-29 from the field, including 6-of-11 from behind the three-point line.

IRVING SPARKLED IN HIS HOMECOMING: In his return to the city where he led the Cavs to their only NBA championship, Kyrie Irving put on a dazzling performance that fans in this part of the country are accustomed to seeing. Irving tallied 30 points, was 12-of-24 from the field and 5-of-8 from downtown. He also pulled down six rebounds. Cavs fans recall Irving draining the series-clinching three-pointer that helped Cleveland defeat the Golden State Warriors in seven games in the 2016 NBA Finals.

EXCEPTIONAL SHOOTING – ON BOTH SIDES: When the dust settled and Tuesday’s game made its way into the history books to be sliced and diced and picked apart in so many ways, it’ll show that both the Mavs and the Cavs proved to be juggernauts on the offensive end of the court. The Mavs shot 52.7 percent from the field (48-of-91) and 42.4 percent from three-point land (14-of-33). But the Cavs were a bit better, shooting 53 percent from the floor (44-of-83) and 50 percent from downtown (20-of-40).

X: @DwainPrice