Strus (ankle) tallied nine points (3-8 FG, 3-8 3Pt) and two assists in 19 minutes in Friday's 124-101 win over the Bucks.
Strus started in all 70 of his appearances with the Cavaliers in 2023-24, but after missing the first 27 games of the 2024-25 with a right hip contusion and a right ankle sprain, head coach Kenny Atkinson opted to ease the sharpshooting wing back in a bench role. The 28-year-old entered the contest with a restriction of about 20 minutes and provided the Cavaliers with some quality perimeter shooting during his time on the court. He'll likely be operating under a minutes cap once again in the second leg of the back-to-back set Saturday versus the 76ers, if he even plays at all. Once he gets fully ramped up, Strus could be a candidate to move into the starting five in place of Isaac Okoro, who recently suffered an AC joint sprain in his shoulder and is likely to miss at least two weeks. Dean Wade replaced Okoro on the top unit Friday, but over the long haul, the Cavaliers may prefer to have the superior floor-spacing option in Strus playing alongside Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell.