For a brief moment on Tuesday night, it appeared as though Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks would pull off a victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
After cutting their defense open for 45 points, the Mavericks star forced the Cavs to focus on Doncic, and the Slovenian gave them a 119-118 lead with a nice toss to PJ Washington. This was intended to completely destroy the Cavaliers, especially because they were out of timeouts to move the ball forward.
But Max Strus thought otherwise. Strus, who was really hot in the fourth quarter to help the Cavs stay up with the Mavericks, finished off his valiant performance in the closing minutes with a ridiculous game-winning buzzer-beater from beyond the halfcourt line that devastated Mavs supporters worldwide.
While Luka Doncic felt it was his own fault for what he considered as his poor defense on the hot sniper during that crucial last possession, Strus deserves all the credit for getting the Cavs the win.
“I was at blame for that. I ought to have exerted more effort. According to Sports Illustrated’s Grant Afseth, Doncic stated during his post game news conference, “I was the first one, so that was my bad.” Amazing shot. I don’t have much to say. Max really killed us in the fourth quarter, but oh, that shot was amazing.
Luka Doncic is the one who would be able to appreciate Max Strus’s last shot the most. The Mavericks star should know, of all people, that extreme confidence can allow the world’s top shooters to attempt even the most absurd attempts. He boldly attempted a full-court shot in the All-Star Game that ended in failure.
However, it’s very hard to hold Doncic accountable for not pressuring Strus. It’s true that the Mavericks star might have disrupted the Cavs sniper’s stride by approaching him sooner and breaking his rhythm. However, Strus’ unbelievable 60-foot game-winning shot was just destined to happen; it was the ideal conclusion to an incredible shooting spree in the fourth quarter. However, losing a game in an extremely painful way will always leave the losing team with a foul taste in their mouths.