Max Strus has drilled a 60-footer as time expired, his fifth made three-pointer in the final four minutes, to give Cleveland a wild 121-119 win over Dallas.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
After the Mavericks took the lead on P.J. Washington's dunk with 2.9 seconds left on Wednesday (AEDT), the Cavaliers quickly inbounded the ball to Evan Mobley, who passed back to Strus -- who made four triples in a span of 67 seconds down the stretch to keep the Cavs close.
Strus then took a dribble before launching his shot from well beyond mid-court. As it swished through the net, he was tackled to the floor by teammates as the home crowd erupted.
"I felt a rhythm and it's fun when you do that," he said.
"Every time I shot it, I felt like it was going in, and it was. Same with the last one."
Donovan Mitchell scored 31 points, Strus added 21 and Jarrett Allen 19 for Cleveland (38-19), second in the Eastern Conference standings, who improved to 12-3 since January 26.
"Man, just to see it go through, especially what he (Strus) did for us in the fourth, it had to be him, too," Mitchell said.
"You dream of a shot like that. So for him to get that after what he did for us, the whole fourth quarter, man."
Luka Doncic had 45 points and 14 assists a day before turning 25. He added nine boards to finish one shy of his 11th triple-double.
A championship winner with the Cavs in 2016, Kyrie Irving had 30 points for Dallas (33-25), who lost for just the second time in 10 games, while Australia's Josh Green compiled seven points, one rebound and an assist.
The NBA and East-best Boston Celtics scored a 117-99 win at home to fellow title hopefuls Philadelphia.
Jaylen Brown scored 30 points in a ninth straight win, improving them to 46-12, while Jayson Tatum added 28 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter.
Tyrese Maxey led the Sixers (33-25) with 32 points and five assists.
Oklahoma City returned to the top of the Western Conference courtesy of a 112-95 win over visiting Houston.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (31) and Jalen Williams (24) combined for 55 points as the Thunder (41-17) made it six wins on the trot, all by double digits.
Chet Holmgren added 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Aussie Josh Giddey tallied 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Minnesota share the same record as OKC after their 114-105 home success over San Antonio.
Anthony Edwards scored 34 points and Rudy Gobert added 13 points and 17 rebounds for the Timberwolves in his latest match-up with fellow Frenchman Victor Wembanyama.
Wembanyama had 17 points and 13 rebounds as the Spurs lost a fifth in a row and 12 of their past 13 games.
Elsewhere, New York were beaten 115-92 at home by New Orleans, Milwaukee thrashed Charlotte 123-85 and Golden State won 123-112 at Washington.
Australian Associated Press
