Max Strus' halfcourt game-winner is one of the most special shots we've seen in a while

*** BESTPIX *** CLEVELAND, OHIO – FEBRUARY 27: Max Strus #1 of the Cleveland Cavaliers shoots a half-court shot over Luka Doncic #77 of the Dallas Mavericks to defeat the Mavericks in the last second of the fourth quarter at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on February 27, 2024, in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavaliers defeated the Mavericks 121-119. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 776035382 ORIG FILE ID: 2044303875

This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.

Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to The Morning Win. Thanks so much for rocking with the FTW crew this morning. We appreciate you giving us a bit of your time.

Can we talk about Max Strus’ game-winning shot against the Mavericks last night? That shot was special, man. For the win. From 59 feet out. Cash. All net.

Listen to the radio call of the game-winner here. It’s epic.

Here is Tim Alcorn on Cleveland Cavaliers radio with the call of Max Strus' incredible game-winner from half court against the Dallas Mavericks. pic.twitter.com/GEidepBQmg

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 28, 2024

My favorite moments of the spring are when a little sprinkle of March Madness comes to the NBA. That’s one of these moments. We don’t see shots like this ever, really. But especially not in the pro ranks. This is the first one we’ve seen since 2021 when Devonte’ Graham hit a 61-footer against the Thunder, according to ESPN Stats and Info. Before that, we hadn’t seen a 50-plus-foot game-winner since 2010.

Max Strus’ game-winner was officially from 59 feet. Per ⁦@ESPNStatsInfo⁩, it’s the second longest game-winning buzzer-beater of the 3-point era. pic.twitter.com/zYwfP8rFwI

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) February 28, 2024

What a shot, man. And the implications to this thing are huge. This keeps the Cavaliers up a full game on the surging Milwaukee Bucks, who are third in the Eastern Conference. The Mavericks also fall a half-game behind the Kings in a tight Western Conference race to make it out of the play-in tournament. Obviously, there’s still plenty of time for things to change moving in the standings. But this shot means a lot.

Enough about the future, though. We can worry about those things when the time comes. In the meantime, though, I hope you appreciate this shot today. Because we probably won’t see another one for a while.

Congrats, Detroit Pistons. You’re not the worst anymore.

(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Well, uh, actually, the Pistons still have the worst record in the NBA. Detroit just technically shares that record with the Wizards now.

At 9-49, these are the two worst teams in the NBA. The Pistons are at least trending up right now. Detroit has one three of its last 10 games and has played some pretty close ones in the last few days. They were even robbed of a win against the Knicks.

The Wizards? Whew, boy. This team literally did not win a game in February. It’s bad in D.C. Real, real bad. It wasn’t that long ago that Kyle Kuzma tweeted this about not wanting to be the team to lose to the Pistons.

At this point its like “dont be that team” 🤣 https://t.co/qmWMgPt9Jz

— kuz (@kylekuzma) December 29, 2023

The Basketball Gods are cruel. Not only did the Wizards lose to the Pistons this season, but now Washington is a worse team.

That’s a throne no one wants.

The verdict on court storming

Mandatory Credit: Cory Knowlton-USA TODAY Sports

We asked you on Monday if you all thought court storming should be banned in the NCAA.

The numbers: There were 30 of you who voted in this one — thank you for taking the time!

— A whopping 77 percent of you said yes, it should be banned.

— Only about 10 percent said no. The rest of you said you didn’t care.

You also took the time to share some responses. One thoughtful reader agreed that, after seeing two players make contact with students, it was time to hang this up.

“I think students and fans storming the court isn’t a bad idea in theory. But when the fans become unruly and are so excited that they ignore players on the court, it becomes too much. A fan was livestreaming when they blindsided Caitlin Clark. And another one was taunting Kyle Filipowski when he got knocked over in the crowd. Do we really have to wait for someone to suffer a serious injury before the NCAA steps in? It’s borderline unacceptable for people to be in that little control of their emotions.”

That’s the take I completely agree with. There’s just not really a good reason to do this anymore — especially not as frequently as it’s done. This used to be something reserved for beating the best of the best. Now it happens when the No. 17 ranked team in the nation loses. That’s just silly.

As another reader pointed out, “there’s too much at stake” with these athletes for this to keep happening. Will the NCAA do anything about it? Probably not. I mean, can they really? If students are going to storm the court they’re going to storm the court. It is what it is.

Let’s hope that as this keeps happening we can avoid injuries and collisions like the ones we’ve seen this season.

Quick hits: Kirk Cousins owns a grill … Free agency predictions … and more

— I’m not sure why Kirk Cousins is so iced out but so be it. Meghan Hall has more here.

— Here’s Cory Woodroof with 30 free agency predictions for this season. Fun!

— Here are 11 Oscars prop bets from Blake Schuster from best to “Please don’t waste your money, folks.”

— Here’s Charles Curtis with the latest mock draft from ESPN’s Mel Kiper. Jayden Daniels > Drake Maye?

— Here’s Blake again with when local sports betting might be coming to Cali.

— Robert Zeglinski ranks the NBA’s contenders here. Nuggets over Celtics? This season? That’s a tough one.

-Sykes ✌️

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Max Strus’ halfcourt game-winner is one of the most special shots we’ve seen in a while