This unlikely Dallas Maverick is leading the NBA in corner 3-pointers made so far this season
Here’s the latest evidence that the Dallas Mavericks (3-8) need to chuck the two-timeline nonsense out the window and focus on the team’s young core of players.
Amid all the torment and injury struggle, all the insincere win-now rhetoric and the roster construction favoring tall men with long arms, one of the only effective offensive weapons the Mavericks have been able to rely upon through the first 11 games of the season has been the corner 3-point shooting of one Kormac Karl “Max” Christie.
Christie is currently leading the NBA in corner 3-pointers made with 18 through 11 games. New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby has hit 17, while his teammate Mikal Bridges and Houston Rockets forward Tari Eason have both hit 15. Milwaukee Bucks guard AJ Green, who went 3-for-3 from the corner on his way to 13 points in Monday’s 116-114 win over the Mavericks, is fifth right in the league at the moment with 14.
Christie went 2-for-3 on his corner 3-point attempts in the heartbreaking loss to Milwaukee, right in line with his 60% mark on those looks to begin the year. He’s shooting better than 45% on 3-point attempts overall so far this season.
On a team that still sits dead last in the league in 3-point shooting at 29.5% going into Wednesday’s game against the Phoenix Suns (6-5), the value of Christie’s hot hand cannot be understated. On a team whose broadcasters were quick to note in Monday’s first quarter that had climbed “up to 29th [in the NBA] in offensive efficiency” and proclaimed that “progress, baby,” Christie’s development as a shooter is a godsend, and the team needs to treat it that way.
You saw it against the Bucks, as the Mavs used the drive-and-kick, both in transition and in the halfcourt offense to try to find open shooters in the corners. Dallas connected on 4-of-9 attempts from the corner, compared to just 5-of-30 on 3-point attempts above the break.
When finding any offense at all is like trying to milk a turnip, the Mavs have to lean more heavily on the few guys that are producing. Christie is playing 29.9 minutes per game so far this year with eight starts over the first 11 games — his minutes on the floor need to increase, at least in the short term. He’s not a defensive liability, and look what the other options are for the Mavs at his position.
Klay Thompson has been dreadful to start the year, shooting just 26.7% on his 3-point attempts. He’s made 16 of his first 60 attempts this year. Pack it in. D’Angelo Russell is only slightly better, hitting the 3-ball at just 27.8%.
When Christie and Brandon Williams, a two-way player last season, make up your most dependable duo in the backcourt, you’re in a rough spot, no doubt. But these two need to be on the floor right now over the more established veterans.
Christie has had one other hot stretch like this through his career, when he’s mostly been stuck around the 35-36% range in 3-point shooting. In his rookie year of 2022-23, he played in 41 games for the Los Angeles Lakers and connected on 26-of-62 (41.9%) from beyond the arc.
He has this in him, especially as he continues to develop. This is no aberration. The Mavericks need to ride his hot hand, because the rest of the offense this year has been a hot mess.
