Kenny Atkinson plants his flag for Max Strus as Cavs’ ‘forceful leader’

Max Strus is the guy on the Cleveland Cavaliers roster who’s made it the farthest in the playoffs, having made it to the NBA Finals with the Miami Heat in 2023. And Strus’ playoff experience is showing as the Cavs face a mountain of adversity in their second-round matchup against the Indiana Pacers. Facing a must-win scenario in Game 3, Strus had himself another excellent game in support of the brilliant Donovan Mitchell, tallying 20 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists in a 126-104 win.

When the Cavs signed Strus in the summer of 2023, they banked on him to provide a different dimension to their offense as a shooter who thrives off movement. But they have clearly gotten more than what they expected; Strus not only has been flashing a more well-rounded game as a passer and defender, he’s also been a very crucial part of the team’s locker room as a leader who speaks up and leads by example.

“He’s becoming our forceful leader. I haven’t seen him so aggressive, leadership-wise,” Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson said in his postgame presser, via the official NBA account on X (formerly Twitter). “He’s really kinda taken hold of all the huddles, film sessions. His spirit’s phenomenal. And he’s on guys [when] you miss an assignment. He’s kind of our enforcer right now.”

This Cavs team is young; Darius Garland and Evan Mobley are 25 and 23 years of age, respectively, and they haven’t made it past the second round of the playoffs. Even Mitchell hasn’t made it yet to a Conference Finals. And from an experience and age standpoint, it’s not a surprise at all to see Strus take initiative and be the one to set the tone for his team, especially when they’re facing immense pressure to succeed in this year’s playoffs after the brilliant regular season that they had.

Cavs’ Max Strus is a man of his word

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Max Strus was partially at fault for the Cavs’ collapse near the end of Game 2; he threw a wayward inbounds pass that set off the chain of events that ended with Tyrese Haliburton’s heartbreaking game-winning triple.

After that game, Strus said that he and the Cavs must be better in protecting leads, and they followed through on that on Friday night. The Pacers never give up, but the Cavs stopped every comeback attempt in the second half, and there’s no doubt that Strus’ leadership played a part in them keeping their poise on the road.