The Cleveland Cavaliers and Max Strus couldn’t have asked for a better return performance for the long-injured forward. Strus has missed the entire 2025-2026 season so far, causing the Cavs to be without one of their two best three-point shooters until recently. Suffering a Jones Fracture in his foot during the offseason, Strus’s return was hotly anticipated. In his return on Sunday, March 15, 2026, he lived up to those expectations against the Dallas Mavericks.
Coming off the bench, Strus shot 7-9 from the floor, 6-7 of which from three, while scoring 24 total points in just 22 minutes in a losing effort, with the Cavaliers falling 130-120. Strus was also a force without the ball, putting up eight rebounds, while dishing out an additional assist to close out a stellar return. On any night, that’s a great game by any NBA player. For a guy coming off a major injury, and nearly putting up a double-double while hitting all but two shots? That’s an exceptional night.
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His comeback was made even more impressive after Strus almost single-handedly erased a 10-point, first-quarter deficit and helped the Cavs stay within one point at halftime. The Cavs defense would fall apart in the third, but considering the concern over Strus’ ability to return to form and how long that would take, most people would be happy with Sunday’s outcome. Especially with how important Strus will be to the Cavs come the playoffs.
Things weren’t perfect for Strus, however. Defensively, he was beaten a bit too often, resulting in his box plus-minus being a solid zero. He’s been, at best, an average defender in his NBA career, so a night where he was being attacked consistently isn’t shocking. The Cavs should be able to weather those outings, however, especially if Strus is scoring at the clip he was against Dallas on Sunday.
Still, a lot of why the Cavs struggled on Sunday was due to the lack of a defensive presence and turnovers. The Cavs will get help on the first front with the return of Jarrett Allen and Jaylon Tyson, who missed the Mavericks game. Neither man is expected to be out for long. Sam Merrill also missed Sunday’s game due to a hamstring issue. When they return, the Cavs will finally have every key player back and ready to go.
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