Cavs’ Max Strus holds back tears after monster return from foot injury

Max Strus was back like he never left. In his Cleveland Cavaliers’ season debut, after missing the first 67 games of the campaign due to his broken left foot recovery, the 29-year-old swingman brought his typical energy and hustle as if he had been playing this whole time.

“I worked my a** off,” Strus said following the Cavs’ 130-120 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

“He’s put in so much time and effort, and we’ve had so much dialogue and conversation about what it looks like for him,” Donovan Mitchell added. “It’s easy for a guy to get discouraged, and he’s not the type to give up, but like, put yourself in a bad headspace. But to see him continuously work— obviously when I was out, we played pickup and played 1-on-1 and played 2-on-2, 3-on-3. So to see him do what he did tonight, it’s the same thing he’s been doing, honestly, for about two-and-a-half weeks. Y’all just haven’t seen it. And that’s the Max Strus we know.”

Fighting back tears, Strus spoke of his confidence out of the gate.

“It was a long road,” Strus said. “I only know one way to work, and that’s as hard as possible. I did that every single day, and tonight’s tonight. I’m just happy to be playing. I had a good night, but that doesn’t matter; we lost. I work out at the same rate every single day and try to implement game speed reps and push myself to the max. I think tonight was a good showing of why that works and why I push myself to be that player.”

Brimming with anticipation as he waited at the scorers’ table, the Rocket Arena crowd roared when the horn sounded, and Strus checked in at the 4:53 mark in the first quarter to a reintroduction from PA announcer Sean Peebles. Promptly, with Cleveland down by 10, the veteran forward drilled a three-ball 30 seconds into his shift on a pass from James Harden on the left wing to a huge ovation.

“I felt the energy,” Strus said. “It was special just from the moment I went out there to shoot pregame. It just goes to show you how much Cleveland loves their sports and how much they care. I’m super grateful to be in Cleveland for that reason, and play for this organization. Our fans are second to none. I love being here and I love playing for ’em.”

“I loved the crowd,” Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson added. “That was a really great moment, him coming in, and then hitting the first couple threes. So that’s a shining light in a not a great day for us.”

Strus knocked down his next three attempts from long range in the same spot, including a transition pull-up and a catch-and-shoot from Donovan Mitchell from 27 feet. He finished the first half with 16 points and 4 rebounds in 12 minutes of action on 4-of-5 from the field.

Despite Cooper Flagg and the Mavs pulling away in the second half, Strus continued his onslaught with two more corner threes and a skying putback to try to keep the Cavs within a reasonable range. It ultimately wasn’t enough to push his team over the edge, but those familiar Strus traits were back again.

He wound up with 24 points, 8 rebounds, and an assist in 23 minutes, going 7-of-9 from the field.

“I think you learn a lot about yourself when something’s taken away from you,” Strus added. “I think I’ve understood how important this is and how much it does mean to me that I want to be back, I want to make an impact, I want to help this team win. I do love playing basketball, and I love doing it with a good group of guys. I’m just happy to be back to be able to do that.”

“That was a pretty, pretty amazing performance after seven months without playing an NBA game,” Atkinson said. “Maybe the best I’ve seen with that period of absence, and then to come in an NBA game and have that performance.”

Strus’ usual backtaps, strength as a screener, and overall havoc were on full display on each end. Right away, the feeling shifted, and that’s the kind of game-changer the Cavs are adding to the mix as the season begins to wind down and the playoffs draw nearer.

“It was the little things, the tip-outs, the two threes he hit back-to-back off of our Zoom action,” Mitchell said. “I set a flare [screen] for him, and then he set one and slipped to the corner. Like, whether the shot’s going or not, those are the things you miss with him. And obviously, Sam [Merrill] has been phenomenal with that as well, so now that we have two of those guys, it’s great to see him back and make us an even bigger threat.”

“They’re another reason why I wanted to come back this year,” Strus said of his teammates. “I could’ve chalked it up and been like, ‘Ah, I’ll come back next year.’ But I’ve been pushing myself to play, I want to play, and everybody in here has been supporting me throughout the whole time. So they’ve wanted me to get back and be who I am and help this team win. And we’ve got a fun couple months here left and ready to make a good playoff push. So I’m just happy to be back with the guys and help us win some games.”

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