The three-point shooting of Max Christie powered the Mavericks to another win over the Houston Rockets on Saturday.
Much of the conversation around the Dallas Mavericks centers on star big man Anthony Davis as we approach the Feb. 5 trade deadline. That's so much the case that the other piece of Davis' infamous trade from the Los Angeles Lakers for Luka Doncic has sort of flown under the radar.
Now he's popping up on other team's radars because of a hot streak of shooting to start this season.
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Shooting guard Max Christie has been one of the Mavs' steadiest players this year, both in and out of the starting lineup. He is shooting 46.6 percent from behind the arc, good enough for the fifth-best mark in the entire NBA.
That marksmanship was on full display Saturday night as the Mavs got their second win over the division-rival Houston Rockets 110-104. Christie was 4-for-6 on three-pointers and 10-for-13 overall for 24 points. Davis was a menace on both ends of the floor with 26 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks.
For the fourth-year guard Christie, the efficiency was off the charts, and head coach Jason Kidd said there should've been even more where that came from, volume-wise.
"It’s gotta be in the 10s," Kidd said postgame about how many looks Christie should get from deep. "You’ve got to shoot 10 when you’re shooting 45 percent or higher."
Christie presently averages a career-high 5.2 three-point attempts per game. That number should continue to rise with this bode of confidence.
"The 7s and the 8s are just when you’re getting started. And this league has changed," the coach added. "You’ve got to shoot the three, and so we’ve talked about him getting up to 10. But we’ve got to be able to create those shots… Early on in the season, he was getting a lot of corner threes, and so we’ve got to figure out how to get back to that.”
"Corner Christie" has found the majority of his openings when he spaces the perimeter as one of the league's most prolific shooters from the shortest distance in the deep corner.
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As he continues working on ways to find his shot, Christie benefits from having one of the game's best shooters ever as a mentor in Klay Thompson, whom has taken a back-seat role this season while Christie has thrived in the starting lineup. Thompson is fifth all-time in made threes with over 2,700 for his career.
Kidd spoke about how Thompson's former teammate and NBA three-point king Stephen Curry focuses most on the next shot, not the outcome of the last.
Dallas will turn to Christie more and more as he rides this hot streak. The Mavs sit second to last in three-point shooting at just 33.5 percent as a team, but more looks for a guy like Christie is sure to raise those numbers.
"Getting advice from one of the best to ever do it, like, I think you should take that advice and run with it," Kidd said.
"So, you hear from a great, hopefully that's gonna help Christie become one of the great ones."
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