Max Christie Sidelined With Hip Injury Ahead of Nuggets Matchup

Max Christie’s hip has officially tapped out for Wednesday night. Underdog NBA reported that the Dallas Mavericks guard is sidelined, meaning we are robbed of one of the more surprisingly efficient spot-starters in the league right now.

If you have not been paying attention to the back end of the Mavericks rotation, you are missing out. In his four starts this season, the 23-year-old is averaging 13.5 points, 3.8 assists, and drilling 2.5 threes a game on nearly 54 percent shooting. Those are the exact kind of numbers that quietly nuke a perfectly researched under bet when you least expect it.

"Underdog NBA: 'Max Christie (hip) listed out for Wednesday.'"

Now Dallas has to figure out how to replace those minutes against the Denver Nuggets. Trying to patch together a backcourt rotation against Denver is like trying to fix a leaky pipe with scotch tape. They will find the weak spot, and they will exploit it until the structural integrity of your defense completely collapses.

Christie has already bounced around the injury report this year with an ankle issue and an illness, so adding a hip problem to the punch card is not ideal for a young player trying to cement his role. Availability is the best ability, and right now, his body is refusing to cooperate.

For now, the Mavericks will have to shuffle the deck. Expect the usage rates for the rest of the Dallas guards to spike on Wednesday, which means the prop market is going to adjust heavily to cover the missing production. We will see if Christie can get right before the weekend, or if this hip issue is going to linger into next week.