Lakers News: Rookie Max Christie Achieves Career First In Win Over Hawks

The MSU product logged productive minutes last night.

During a true team win last night at Crypto.com Arena, your Los Angeles Lakers saw several role players step up to help LA down the Atlanta Hawks for the second time in eight days. The margin this time was a bit wider than it was on December 30th: 130-114.

LA was missing three of its best wing players in Lonnie Walker IV, Austin Reaves and Troy Brown Jr., due to various maladies. As a result, the club needed its healthy deeper-bench swingmen to step up, despite having been on the periphery of head coach Darvin Ham's rotations prior to all these ailments.

6'6" rookie shooting guard Max Christie, whom LA selected with the No. 35 pick out of Michigan State University in the 2022 draft, has emerged as an intriguing player on both ends of the hardwood. The 19-year-old remains overall a fairly raw addition to the club, but he has the outlines of a solid 3-and-D player with appetizing athleticism.

In 16:05 last night, Christie scored eight points on 3-of-5 shooting (2-of-2 from deep) from the floor. He also dished out three dimes, notched one rebound, and rejected one ball.

Most importantly, however, Christie logged his first career NBA dunk during the Hawks victory:

We see you, @Max12Christie 👀 pic.twitter.com/xdZe70n2iG

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 7, 2023

Across 12.5 minutes a night for the season for LA, Christie is knocking down 42.1% of his 1.8 three-point attempts and grabbing 2.1 rebounds.