Max Christie Continues to Impress With 'Poise & Skill' as Mavs Win 5 of Last 6 Games
With each passing game, Dallas Mavericks' Max Christie is proving that he's much more than a Luka Doncic trade 'throw-in.'
Although emotions are still running high within the Dallas Mavericks fan base following the trade of Luka Doncic at the top of the month, the team, which has battled one significant injury after the other, is doing all it can to win those fans over with a gritty, resilient style of play.
Led by Kyrie Irving (team-high 35 points) and P.J. Washington (24 points), the Mavs defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 111-103 at American Airlines Center on Friday night in their first game back from the NBA All-Star break. It was the Mavs’ fifth win in six games, pulling them within one game of the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference standings. Given all the Mavs have gone through since Christmas Day, it sounds crazy even making that statement, but here we are.
As great as Irving and Washington were against the Pelicans, though, I’d argue that Max Christie, who recently celebrated his 22nd birthday, was the game’s MVP. In 32 minutes off the bench, he tallied 16 points (6-7 FG, 2-3 3PT), four rebounds, two assists, one steal, and countless high-effort defensive plays that won’t show up in the stat sheet. Christie was a team-best, by far, in the plus/minus department by being +24 when he was on the floor.
Photo: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
When the Mavs acquired Christie from the Los Angeles Lakers, everyone knew he was a solid role player. However, he’s shown the potential of being more than that this early into his Dallas tenure. In seven games with the Mavs, Christie is averaging 17.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.1 steals while shooting 51.9 percent overall and 47.2 percent from deep. Irving gushed about his new teammate’s abilities following Friday’s win.
“His poise and also his skill level,” Irving said of Christie’s game. “Just iso-ing and also just making plays off the dribble and continuing our offense to allow it to flow, come off pick and rolls, be ready to catch and shoot. … Just working extremely hard in the summertime.”
Irving is known for arriving to the arena earlier than anyone else as he gets extra work in before games, but Christie surprised him by being there before him today.
“It’s just not about skill work, it’s about vision, decision making. (He) listens very well and pays attention to detail. He wants to be great at what he does, and when somebody wants to do that, they’ll beat you to the arena early, like Max Christie did today.”
Many Mavs fans will never forgive GM Nico Harrison for trading Doncic in the way he did–in the middle of the night and only negotiating with one team–but there’s no denying that Christie has already started building strong rapport as a fan-favorite. He plays hard, he’s helping the Mavs win games despite injuries to Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford, and he has hopes of being more than just an effective role player as he continues to develop over the next few years.
As well as the Mavs are currently playing despite being without their best big men, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say this team could be a top contender in the West when/if they get reinforcements before the postseason. The Mavs claim Davis “is making good progress,” and re-evaluations on him, Gafford and Lively will come on March 6. Fingers crossed.
Next up, the Mavs head out on a quick two-game California road trip, as they’ll take on the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night before playing Doncic and the Lakers in what should be a highly emotional game on Tuesday night. Stay tuned to Mavs Step Back for more coverage via our latest podcast, which will drop on Saturday.