LOS ANGELES – Coming into the Los Angeles Lakers’ Christmas Day clash against the Golden State Warriors, Max Christie knows that the task of chasing Stephen Curry around for 48 minutes will likely fall on him.
It’s not like he isn’t used that type of challenge though. Within the past month alone, Christie has drawn several tough defensive assignments including Trae Young, Ja Morant and Cade Cunningham. Curry is just the next one up. But there’s a catch.
Following the Lakers’ loss to the Detroit Pistons on Monday, Max Christie dropped a heap of praise on Stephen Curry in advance of their Christmas matchup against the Warriors.
“On Christmas I got Steph Curry, so it’s a great challenge I’m willing to take. And for me, I just have to prepare at an elite level. And I think I usually do that for all these games. For me, just staying consistent with my routing of taking care of my body, hydrating a lot, eating properly, getting enough sleep,” Christie said.
“Doing all the little things because those will stack up and I think those will benefit me hopefully on Christmas when I guard a top-ten player of all time,’ Christie continued. “I’m excited for the opportunity. You don’t get that a lot, so I’m looking forward to it.”
It’s entirely possible that Stephen Curry has the resume of a top-ten player of all time. But regardless, it’s going to be a tough challenge for Christie, and will go a long way towards a possible Lakers’ win or not.
Max Christie’s defensive impact
One of the key areas of growth for Christie this season has been on the defensive end. One of his highlights in that regard came on Dec. 6 against the Atlanta Hawks. Although the Lakers lost that game, Christie came up with a huge block on Trae Young that sent the game to overtime.
A few games later on Dec. 15, Christie chased and hounded Ja Morant into 6-of-21 shooting in a Lakers’ win. Then on Monday, against the Pistons, Christie was matched up against Cade Cunningham who is having an All-Star caliber season.
Although the Pistons and Cunningham, who finished with 20 points, five rebounds and ten assists, got the better of the Lakers, Christie relished the matchup. Christie dropped a career-high 17 points, but remarked how it’s the defensive end where he measures his success.
“I think tonight I did a solid job. My primary matchup was Cade Cunningham. He’s an elite player, all-star level player,” Christie said. “He still ended with 20, ten and five, but I thought I did a good job just trying to make it tough for him. He’s a great player, he’s going to make tough shots. But overall, I think I’m in a pretty good spot right now.”
One player who has certainly noticed the impact that Christie has brought to the team is Austin Reaves. Since Christie entered the starting lineup, Reaves has moved to full-time point guard duties. Reaves also hasn’t had to chase around so many tough defensive matchups as he has in past seasons.
The main thing that’s stood out to Reaves about his backcourt partner is Christie’s willingness to match up defensively.
“I think he’s been really, really good for us over the past couple of weeks. He stepped into that role and embraced it and he’s had really good defensive games and offensive games,” Reaves said after the Pistons’ game. “I think he’s just become a better player since the day he got here. Every day he asks questions, wants to learn. He’s a really good kids and a really good basketball player too.”
