The Los Angeles Lakers had been playing some of their best basketball since switching their starting lineup and inserting Max Christie next to Austin Reaves in the backcourt. The Lakers had won seven of their last nine games going into their two-game Texas road trip, but unfortunately went 0-2 against the Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks.
A competitive road loss to the Rockets was a bit more understandable, but the 21-point loss to the Mavericks without their All-Star duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving was can be described as nothing short of disappointing.
But one of the things the Lakers have stressed all season long is never getting too high or low regardless of the results and Christie echoed that point once again after the loss in Dallas. Christie believes the Lakers will continue to stick together and improve after this loss as well, as seen on Spectrum SportsNet:
“I think for us, honestly, as a team, I think we do a decent job of not getting too high or too low emotionally. It’s a big message, we had that at the end of the game today, just trying to stay the course. I think we’ve turned our season around since that Miami game in Miami and we were really connected and have done a pretty good job. So we’re not gonna let tonight’s loss be the end-all, be-all for us. We’re just gonna try to stay consistent, try to stay together as a team, look at the film and get better from this. We’re not gonna overreact to a loss like this even though we absolutely should’ve won. At the end of the day, they’re a good team and it’s hard to win in the NBA. So for us as a team, we’re gonna stay together and win these next few at home.”
The Lakers have five straight games at home, all of which are against teams .500 or worse so the stage is set for them to get back in the win column and fix some of the issues that have been plaguing them. Christie has been a bright spot for the Lakers lately and his continued growth will be key for the success of the Lakers going forward.
This team has been up and down all season long with win streaks followed by losing streaks and promising performances followed by baffling ones. At some point the Lakers have to figure out how to play at a high level consistently and hopefully this upcoming home stand will allow for them to begin that process.
Max Christie feels defensive miscommunications plagued Lakers vs. Mavericks
In terms of what cost the Lakers against the Mavericks on Tuesday, it was a matter of the defense failing them and Max Christie discussed that afterwards.
The Lakers guard felt the Mavericks had a good game plan of moving guys around which affected the Lakers’ desired shifts they wanted to have on defense and led to some miscommunications. Once Dallas took advantage of that and knocked down a couple open shots, Christie felt they got into a rhythm that was hard to break.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!