Despite a great start to their 2019-20 NBA regular season campaign, the Dallas Mavericks have been pretty inconsistent this year. They hold the distinction as the only team this season to defeat powerhouse squads Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks, but they also lost twice to the lowly New York Knicks.

The Mavs may have hit a new low on Sunday night, losing a 30-point first half lead to defending champs Toronto Raptors on Sunday at the Scotiabank Arena. They went on to lose the match 107-110, which was quite a letdown especially after they blew out the Philadelphia 76ers in the last game, sans their best player Luka Doncic.

Some pundits unfairly blasted Dallas' head coach Rick Carlisle, especially after a fourth quarter meltdown where the Mavs were outscored 47-21. His shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr. quickly came to the defense of the veteran tactician, claiming that it was “BS” that some thought that Carlisle was at fault.

“Moving forward this puts an anger and killer instinct mentality even more into our guys. We are going to move on from this, learn from this. I think this is the best thing that could have happen, especially early on in the season,” Hardaway said, via Brad Townsend of Dallas Morning News.

After producing 27 points in their win over Philly, Hardaway punched in 16 markers, eight rebounds and five assists in 36 minutes on Sunday. He has developed quite a bond with Carlisle this season, admitting that his coach tweaked his shot a bit and improved his field goal percentage.

The Mavs, meanwhile, are still 5th in the West with a 19-10 slate. They are now 2-2 without Doncic in the lineup.