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The NBA Playoffs are clearly not the destination for the Dallas Mavericks in the 2025-26 season. Coach Jason Kidd has seen a lot of his core players injured and the ones who are left still need time to perfect their schemes. Cooper Flagg is slowly turning out to be a great star that the Mavs can rely on, however Klay Thompson points out that there could be another breakout performance from one of their own soon — Max Christie.
Mavericks expected to see Christie rise to the occasion
Notably, a big part of why the Mavericks have lost eight consecutive games was due to their three-point shooting. They are only knocking down their shots from beyond the arc with a 34% clip. This is below the NBA average for the season which clocks in at 35.8%. Coach Kidd clearly needs someone to step up.
Thompson knows what it's like to go on slumps and recover from them. The veteran four-time NBA champion posits that Christie could be exactly what the Mavericks need to solve their three-point conundrum, via Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News.
“Max, so far, has already had a great season. A great shooter who is only going to get better and I just tell him to give himself some grace because Max might be 22 years old and there’s a lot of players in the NBA who aren’t as effective as him. He’s got so many great years ahead of him and I just tell him to be as present as possible," the Mavericks sharpshooter said.
Despite missing all seven of his three-pointers against the Toronto Raptors, Christie has been having a great year. His averages are at a career-high with 12.8 points on a 45% field goal percentage. His three-point clip? The Mavericks young gun is shooting at an insane 40.7% from far out. Clearly, there is a lot to improve like consistency and off-the-dribble shots but he shows great promise.
At one point, Christie was shooting at an unbelievable 45% from three-point range. However, the Mavericks experienced a slump which also led to his numbers dipping. He continues to formulate new ways to get out of the skid and help Coach Kidd's squad notch more wins before the NBA season ends.
"It gets tough sometimes, for sure. I believe in myself as a shooter. To be able to go through stretches like these, it can be frustrating at times but you just got to continue to take it a day at a time. It’s easy to try to get it all back in one day and try to just force it all back. but I’m taking it taking it step by step and continuing to believe. I’m not allowing the stretch to define what’s happened the whole season," Christie declared.
Surely, there are now two young talents that the Mavericks can bank on moving forward: Flagg and Christie.
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