Best Game I've seen in years!

   I haven't had a chance to watch as many Cavaliers or Devils games as I'd like this season but with a rare evening alone ( with Posey as company), the schedule fell perfect for a doubleheader with the Dallas Mavericks in Cleveland to visit the Cavaliers and later, the Devils in San Jose to drop in on the Sharks.

I was looking forward to the Cavaliers and Mavericks, not because Ryan is a rabid Mavericks fan ( I actually have always had a soft spot for Phoenix, Dallas, and San Antonio in the West) but because the first game between the teams in Dallas earlier in the season was a great game with Cleveland winning 113-110 without Donovan Mitchell for the win.

This one was even better with Luka Doncic and Donovan Mitchell trading big shot after big shot deep into the final quarter (Doncic would finish with 45 points, Mitchell with 31).

Dallas broke a tie game open with ten straight points to take a ten-point lead at 108-98 with four and a half minutes remaining and seemed to be on their way to a road win.

Max Strus had other ideas as Strus nailed FOUR three-pointers in roughly a minute of play to drag Cleveland to within one followed by a Donovan Mitchell to give Cleveland a 115-113 lead with 1:52 to play.

After Josh Green's dunk tied the game with forty-five seconds to play, the final twenty-nine seconds were filled with outstanding play after outstanding play.

Donovan Mitchell hits a three-pointer, Kyrie Irving hits a driving two to cut the lead to one and Dallas forces a turnover on defense with nine seconds remaining.

Dallas goes down low to P.J. Washington, who lays the ball in with two seconds remaining to give Dallas a two-point lead, and Cleveland is unable to call a timeout.

Evan Mobley inbounded to Max Strus, who had time for one dribble and let it fly from what ESPN reported as fifty-nine feet- Swish for three points and a 121-119 Cleveland win!

Strus entered the final four minutes with six points on the evening and finished with twenty-one and a game-winning shot that will be remembered for quite a while by Cavalier fans!

Cleveland had six players with double-figure points on the night (Mitchell 31, Strus 21, Jarrett Allen 19, Evan Mobley 12, Caris LeVert 11, and Georges Niang 10) while Dallas received Luka Doncic's 45 and Kyrie Irving's 30 but only P.J. Washington's eleven points reached double-digits of the rest of the Mavericks.

Sometimes in sports, certain teams simply match up well with others and make great games no matter when they play the other.

In football right now, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills always seem to have memorable battles when they meet up and perhaps the Cavaliers and Mavericks mesh very well with each other to make exciting games.

In any case, it was a tremendous game that was so much fun to watch with so many twists and turns and you might want to make a note next season to catch these two teams when they play each other!