As Maverick fans wait for the return of Anthony Davis, the centerpiece of the blockbuster trade last month, the growth of Max Christie has been an interesting subplot.
The 6-6 guard left a magnificent first impression when he came out firing (and making) shots in his first couple of weeks as a Maverick.
Then, he hit a lull. And Christie said after the 130-125 loss Sunday to Philadelphia that he understands what the reasons were for his brief swoon.
“I had a stretch when I first got here when I was super confident, aggressive and assertive and things worked out well for me,” Christie said. “And I had a stretch recently when I wasn’t so much. And you could see that reflected in my play.
“Today was a great step forward for me moving past that, having that confidence and aggressiveness.”
That was a welcomed sight.
Christie had 18 points and eight rebounds against the 76ers. He hit six of eight shots, including four of six from three-point range.
Before that, Christie had an 11-game run when he averaged only eight points and shot 30 percent from long range.
Contrast that to his first seven games as a Maverick when he averaged 17.1 and shot 48 percent from three-point land, and you can see why there was some concern.
“Confidence is huge, especially when you’re a shooter,” coach Jason Kidd said. “I think one of his first baskets was a layup. So sometimes when you’re a shooter and you can get that layup, the basket opens up and your confidence is big.”
Christie said the logistics of the past six weeks have been a challenge. In his third season, Christie had never been traded before and he’s still getting accustomed to his new life.
“One thing I’ve learned throughout this process is how easy it is to use excuses,” he said. “For me, there’s a lot of excuses I could make. But it’s important to focus on what I can control and be disciplined.
“Coming to a new city and staying in a hotel and trying to figure out your teammates. They’re all excuses you can make that are half true. But at the end of the day, you’re not being real with yourself. So you still need to be a professional. It’s tough, for sure, but you can’t use that as a fallback when things aren’t going well.”
And, getting over that hump helped propel him to a new level of assertiveness against the Sixers.
“Confidence was there from the work I put in,” he said. “The shot was falling. I didn’t think I forced anything. I was just a lot more physical, assertive.”
And the Mavericks are hopeful that this Christie sticks around for the remaining 13 games in the regular season.
Here are the other takeaways from the loss to Philadelphia:
Coming up short: The Mavericks have had trouble in the physicality department recently, but actually had success against the Sixers, winning the battles of points in the paint (62-58), second-chance points (17-16) and fast-break points (28-16). But they still got outrebounded and their 15 turnovers were costly, as well. “It’s tough. We’re not necessarily the tallest team,” Christie said. “That makes rebounding and rim protection a little bit more difficult. But we can’t say after every game we’re not tall enough to win games. That’s not acceptable. We’re still going to move past this and continue to try to win as many games as possible because at this point in the season, every game matters, especially for seeding.”
Speaking of turnovers: The Mavericks had too many of them and paid the price. “Overall, we were terrible on the offensive end when it comes to turnovers,” P.J. Washington said. “We beat ourselves with that. We had 15 turnovers. That’s unacceptable. If we don’t turn the ball over, we win the game.”
Tuning out the noise: The Mavericks are trying to stay focused on winning games, particularly given their position as they try to hang on to a spot in the play-in tournament. That was hard to concentrate on when players were hearing during Sunday’s game chants that were editorial comments on the trade of Luka Doncic. To that, P.J. Washington summed up the emotions of the players: “The trades happened. We understand we have a new team now. All the ‘fire Nico’ stuff, we’re sick and tired of hearing it. We want the fans to support us, no matter who’s on the floor.”
X: @ESefko
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