Max Christie gets brutally honest as he plays through “Fire.”

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers have won four of their last five games, coinciding with the addition of Max Christie to the starting lineup. Since then, Christie has contributed with all-around play, particularly on defense. Now in his third season with the Lakers, Max Christie attributes his development this year to being put in high-pressure situations and being forced to swim.

“To be honest, I grew from living in fire. I don’t think I’ve been in high-pressure, high-stakes situations much over the past few years. This year I had a few of them. You get thrown into the fire, you make a mistake, you learn from it,” Christie told the media after the Lakers’ win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Dec. 15. “It’s just the growth, so to speak, of just standing in the fire and failing a lot, and you have to fail before you succeed. So I just stay the course, one foot in front of the other when you make mistakes and just learn and do the best I can.”

In recent weeks, Christie has found himself thrust into some high-pressure situations. The first game took place on November 29th against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Lakers trailed by four with less than a minute left when Christie hit a game-winning shot into the lane, cutting the lead to two, 95-93, with 39.2 seconds left.

The Thunder had a shot clock, and if the Lakers had gotten a stop, they would have had a chance at the potential game-winner. But Christie mistook JJ Redick’s calls for coverages as an instruction for him to commit a foul. He immediately fouled Shai Gilgeous-Alexander after the throw-in, and Gilgeous-Alexander’s two free throws essentially sealed the win.

But a week later, against the Atlanta Hawks, Christie found himself in another high-stakes situation. With the score tied at 119, Trae Young had a chance to win the game. But Christie blocked his shot and it went into overtime. Although the Lakers ultimately lost in overtime, he showed much more confidence in the decisive game time.

Max Christie’s development for the Lakers this season

As mentioned, the Lakers are 4-1 since Christie was a starter. There are other factors that contributed to this extension, but there’s no denying the impact the former Michigan State star had.

In one of the Lakers’ best wins of the season so far, 116-110 against the Memphis Grizzlies, Christie’s defense against Ja Morant was crucial throughout the game. After that game, Redick praised Christie for his feel for the court and his ability to learn from game to game.

“Max has a really good feel for the game and can move. . .just in terms of his long-term prospects and growth, I think these opportunities are great for him. I’m referring to the Oklahoma City game where he made a mistake at the end. We play in Atlanta a week later and he’s in a similar situation at the end of regulation and gets a block on Trae Young,” Redick said.

“For young people, these opportunities are great to not only build their confidence, but also just the learned experience and knowledge of being in different situations,” Redick continued.

This season he appeared in 27 games, six of which were in the starting line-up. Christie has put a slow start to the season behind him and is averaging 6.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists. For him, it’s all about continuing to grow and learn.

“It feels good and it’s pretty cool to see the progress and growth just in me over the last three years,” Christie said. “To be honest, I think I’m starting to feel a little better, I’ve gotten into more tense situations, more important situations. And I think those are good experiences for me. . .I think it’s cool for me to just reflect on the development that I’ve made. And then I want to continue like that.”