Max Christie finished Dallas’s 120-96 win over Oklahoma City with 11 points. Every made field goal came from beyond the arc; two free throws supplied the rest. His shooting account was tidy enough, but the two passes he delivered to P.J. Washington in the fourth quarter deserve their own space.
At 5:26, Christie assisted Washington’s three for a 111-93 lead. Washington scored a layup from Daniel Gafford in between, then made a pullup from another Christie pass at 3:27. Tobi Lawal later assisted Christie’s final three at 2:11. Those were different passing connections, giving Dallas useful finishes without asking Christie to take a large number of shots or dominate the offense.
Christie played 21:47 and went 3-for-8 from the field, a solid line with an obvious limitation. Every field goal came from outside, so this was hardly a complete offensive performance. Yet the narrowness of the shot chart was useful in context.
Dallas had enough creators and enough interior activity to avoid asking Christie to manufacture offense possession after possession. When his opportunities came, he turned three of them into points.
The first arrived at 8:07 of the second quarter, when Kyrie Irving assisted Christie on a 3-pointer that gave Dallas a 46-36 lead. The Mavericks had finished the first quarter ahead 33-30, and Christie’s basket helped widen the margin during a second period in which Dallas repeatedly answered Oklahoma City’s attempts to stay close.
Marcus Sasser followed with a cutting layup, a running 3-pointer and a pullup later in the quarter, while Dallas reached halftime ahead 65-59.
Irving and Christie connected again at 9:25 of the third. Christie’s running 3-pointer made it 70-61, and Dallas then built on that advantage through several different finishers. Washington scored from inside at 8:35, Zaccharie Risacher followed with a tip-in, and Cooper Flagg added a pullup.
The possession-by-possession point is simple: Christie’s scoring did not require Dallas to reorganize the offense around him. His two made shots from Irving arrived inside a broader attack that kept changing hands.
The final-quarter assist to Washington carried a different kind of value. Ajay Mitchell’s two free throws had cut the margin to 108-93 at 6:45. Christie’s pass to Washington answered with a 3-pointer, and Washington’s next two baskets pushed Dallas from a comfortable lead toward a finish with no real suspense.
Christie’s second assist, the feed to Washington at 3:27, made it 115-93 after the intervening Washington layup. Those passes were recorded as assists, but their significance comes from the exact timing: Dallas kept converting possessions while Oklahoma City’s comeback window narrowed.
The broader numbers support the idea that Christie benefited from choosing efficient moments rather than chasing volume. Dallas made 16 3-pointers to Oklahoma City’s five, a 33-point edge from beyond the arc. Christie supplied three of Dallas’ makes, while Irving, Washington, Risacher, Sasser and Caleb Martin also contributed from deep.
