MACAO — Max Christie scored 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting Sunday as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Houston Rockets 132-115 at The Venetian Arena. He went 2-of-3 from 3-point range and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line, and added 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal in 21:38.
Christie scored 6 points in the first quarter without making a 3-pointer. Both of his field goals in the period were driving layups, the second with 3.5 seconds left to give Dallas a 28-27 lead, and he drew a shooting foul for two more free throws. He added 8 points in the third quarter, including a transition 3-pointer that made it 92-79 with 2:38 left.
The win split the two-game NBA China Games 2026 series after Houston won Friday’s opener, 135-117. Dallas acquired Christie from the Los Angeles Lakers in February 2025.
Max Christie On Attacking Off The Dribble
Christie’s next step offensively is playmaking with the ball in his hands. He wants to impact games even on nights his 3-point shot is not falling.
“It’s a great question. I would say mostly expanding my game, but being able to playmake with the ball in my hands as well. I thought tonight I actually did a good job,” Christie said. “Just kind of being aggressive to the rim and understanding that even if my three-point shot isn’t going in, or I don’t take as many threes, I can still impact the game with the ball in my hands as well.”
“So I thought I did a good job of that tonight, just being able to drive bad closeouts, being able to drive some isolation situations, being able to be more of a top player than someone that just kind of stands still and shoots threes,” Christie continued.
Houston’s physicality, offensive rebounding, and scrappiness were the biggest challenge for Christie in the rematch. The Rockets grabbed 21 offensive rebounds and scored 27 second-chance points Sunday. Dallas went back to the film from the opener before the rematch, Christie said.
“I would evaluate us, honestly, we turned in the right direction,” Christie explained. “I think for us, we lost the first game and then we got to win the second game. I think we really improved on a lot of the stuff that we wanted to correct from the film from the first game, and so we played well together. I thought our camaraderie was really, really good. I thought we encouraged each other a lot. I thought we played hard. I thought we played with some physicality, so overall just improvement for us.”
“Personally, against this team, it’s just their level of physicality, their offensive rebounding, and kind of the toughness and scrappiness that they play with,” Christie added. “I think in the first game we did do a good job of matching that, and I think tonight we did a little bit better job matching it. I think that it helped us win the game.”
Dallas forced 22 turnovers and scored 32 points off them. The Mavericks also had 12 steals and outscored Houston 24-11 in fast-break points.
Max Christie On Playing Around Cooper Flagg And Kyrie Irving
Kyrie Irving scored on the first possession of his first game since tearing the ACL in his left knee on March 3, 2025, and finished with 17 points. Christie was glad to witness it outside of basketball, and he had Irving’s line ready afterward.
“It was super cool,” Christie said. “I mean, the first possession of the game he came out and scored in Kyrie fashion, so that was really, really cool to see. Just outside of basketball, like, that was really cool to see, to be able to witness that, and he looked phenomenal. Six-for-13, 22 minutes in this first game, 17 points, so it can only get better from here. So he looked good. It was very, very fun to watch.”
Sunday was also the first game Irving and Cooper Flagg have played together. Flagg, the 2025-26 NBA Rookie of the Year, had 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 7 assists. Christie expects the attention the two draw to make the game easier for everyone around them.
“Seeing Coop and Kyrie together for the first time, if I’m not mistaken, it was pretty cool. I mean, it’s going to be cool for us as a team to be able to play around them,” Christie said. “They’re gonna command so much attention, and so it’s gonna be very, very easy for us just to kind of impact the game in that way, just because of the gravity that they command, and so we can expect a lot of positive things out of that.”
Christie also spent the trip exploring Macao and Hong Kong. He hopes to come back.
“It was really cool just to kind of explore this culture around here,” Christie said. “And I’m hopefully looking forward to coming back here at some point during my career.”
The Mavericks host the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday at American Airlines Center, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. CT.
