Max Strus' sad group text blows up after stunning Cavaliers elimination
Cavaliers wing Max Strus showed up physically, but that's about it.
Facing the daunting task of being down 3-1 to the Pacers in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals, the Cavaliers needed a miracle, which never came as they were eliminated in Game 5, 114-105.
Strus attempted to rally the team ahead of the elimination game, sending a group text to his teammates saying, 'If you don't believe, don't show up for work.'
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Max Strus followed that up going 0/9 from the field and scoring zero points.
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The reserve wing then followed that up by going a putrid 0-for-9 from the field and scoring zero points while adding seven rebounds and two assists.
The story was told live on the TNT telecast before Game 5 by reporter Jared Greenberg.
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'A group text message was sent out to every single Cavalier player,' Greenberg said before reading the message, later adding that Strus did not believe the Cavaliers were done.
The usually reliable sharpshooter had played well in the series from an offensive perspective, scoring 12.2 points per game, and entered Game 5 shooting 40 percent from 3-point range, the second-best figure on the team.
Strus will now be watching the rest of the playoffs from home as the Pacers move on to face the winner of the Knicks vs. Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.
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The Knicks hold a 3-1 series edge with Game 5 in Boston on Wednesday night.
Cleveland now heads into the offseason wondering what went wrong as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The series took a stunning turn when the Cavaliers blew a seven-point lead in the final 48 seconds of Game 2, sending them into a 2-0 deficit they were unable to fight back from.
TNT's Jared Greenberg reads Max Strus' text message during the pregame show of Game 5.
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The Cavaliers also dealt with health issues as Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, DeAndre Hunter, and Evan Mobley battled injuries in this series.
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