Jayson Brown gives his perspective on the incident where Max Strus stepped over his head. He said he believes he has a right to protect his head and that he embraces the boos from the Cleveland fans
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Max Strus is hoping his squad can do what the Florida Panthers did to a Boston team last season: win a playoff series after trailing 3-1.
The Panthers trailed the heavily favored Boston Bruins 3-1 in the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and they pulled off the upset by winning the last three games of the series, including Games 5 and 7 in Boston. (The B's and Panthers are currently playing each other in the second round of the 2024 playoffs).
The Cavaliers trail the Boston Celtics 3-1 in their Eastern Conference semifinals series entering Game 5 at TD Garden on Wednesday night. Not only are the Celtics a more talented and deeper team than the Cavs, but Cleveland also might be without its best player, Donovan Mitchell, for a second straight game. He is reportedly not expected to play in Game 5 due to a calf injury.
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The odds are stacked against the Cavs, but that didn't stop Strus -- who played for the Miami Heat the three previous seasons -- from walking into the Garden wearing a Panthers jersey with his name and "31" on the back.
Caleb Martin also wore a Panthers jersey to TD Garden for Game 5 of the Miami Heat's first-round series against the Celtics a few weeks ago. The C's led that series 3-1 at the time and eliminated the Heat with a dominant 34-point victory.
Strus gave his best performance of the Celtics-Cavs series in Game 4 when he scored 15 points on 5-for-9 shooting from 3-point range, along with seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
The Cavaliers likely will need a similar effort from Strus in Game 5 to extend the series to a Game 6 back in Cleveland.
