Lakers News: Max Christie Talks About Career Scoring Night

01/03/2025 01:50 PM

Max Christie turned in a career night for the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, knocking down five 3-pointers to finish with a career-high 28 points in the 114-106 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. It was the latest in a string of strong performances from the third-year guard who is settling in nicely as a starter.

Christie is really coming into his own as a starter and this game was proof of what he is capable of and the potential the Lakers have long seen in him. As for why he was able to get going against Portland, Christie was able to take advantage of the Trail Blazers’ aggression on defense, and simply knocked down the open looks he got.

“I think I was making shots,” Christie said after the win. “I made five threes tonight. I thought I did a good job of cutting to the basket. They were very physical. Very swarming team when they put the guys on the ball. So I was able to cut behind the defense, get a few dunks, and then be on the backside and be able to knock down a couple threes.”

Being able to read the defense for easy buckets and open looks is that next step in progression that has allowed Christie to grow. Of course, the Lakers also rely on him primarily for his defense and Christie understands his role and embraces it. The guard even feels that playing strong defense allows him to get going on offense.

“100%,” Christie responded when asked if his defense sets him up offensively as well. “It’s definitely a big part of my game is to kind of get myself going defensively for sure, kind of with, like you said, my disposition, starting at the point of attack, I’m usually on the opposing team’s best players.

“So trying to bring energy on that end of the floor, hopefully it trickles down in the rest of the guys, and then obviously, it’ll help me a little bit on the offensive end, too. Just kind of get my body in a rhythm and flow.”

It has worked to perfection for Christie recently who has scored in double-digits in four of the last five games while shooting over 45% from deep. And the guard wants to continue to build on this outstanding performance when the Lakers needed it.

“It felt great. Tonight was a career night for me,” Christie added. “So this is something that I want to hang on to and try to replicate as much as possible. But just kind of seeing what I did today, and my mindset going into the game, and how can I kind of repeat that for games to come as well, try to stay consistent as best as possible with with this. And I think for me, it just starts on the defensive end, which is great, because that’s something I can really control of my effort.

“I happened to make some shots tonight. I think I work hard enough to be able to see those results, but I’m not going to make shots every single night, so I still need to find a way to impact the game defensively. And I thought I did a good job.”

There has been some rough times, but Christie has continued to put in the work and the Lakers have continued to believe in him along the way. And now it is paying off.

Lakers’ Max Christie stayed positive after slow first quarter

After a slow start, Max Christie had a strong second quarter with 12 of his 28 points coming in that period and the guard felt himself really get in a good rhythm during that period thanks to staying positive within himself.

“Honestly, I think I hit that three in the second quarter, or something like that, my second stint, and then I hit another three after that. So, I mean, I felt pretty good,” Christie noted. “Even after I missed my first few shots, I still wanted to stay aggressive.

“I thought my positive self-talk was really good in that moment, and it was able to kind of keep me going. I hit a couple threes, and had a couple of nice reads on the backside to cut to the basket, get a few dunks, and had five free throws as well. I made every single one. So I just think tonight, I was aggressive, I was assertive, and I stayed positive with myself. Talking after a little bit of a slow start.”

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