There was at least one good thing about the short-handed Lakers team’s one-sided 122-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets last night.
6-foot-6-inch rookie swingman Max Christie has the highest score of his career to date.
Christie, who was forced to make his first NBA start last night against the Nuggets, began preparations early. He started off by making his first three-point attempt in the first quarter.
Christie started shooting 1-2s from deep in the period. Those are his only attempts from the floor in the frame.
He waited in the second quarter for a second shot and another triple in the corner of the Cole Sweider dish.
His next bucket was a nifty midrange take that landed a 19-foot turnaround fadeaway jumper in the second half.
The 19-year-old had two field goal tries in the frame.
In the third quarter, with the Lakers still far behind, Christie surpassed his previous career-high with eight points on running floaters.
Christie scored the first dunk of the night (see his first NBA dunk here).
Christie eventually scored 2-3 from the floor in the third period, but his only mistake was this brutal Michael Porter Jr. rejection.
This is more a reflection of the matchup than Christie’s ability or lack thereof. At Porter’s height he’s 6’10” and can fly out of the gym. In terms of driving, it’s almost unfair to expect Christie, who started at small forward, to be able to compete effectively for the Nuggets. Christie’s Shot It makes sense that many of the were jumpers.
His final point came in the fourth quarter with 1:56 remaining, and the game nearly got out of hand.
It was a promising start at an otherwise unpromising loss. He scored 14 points with his 6/8 shooting (from deep he was 2/3), 3 rebounds and 1 assist.