Dallas Mavericks rookie point guard Dennis Smith Jr. was the subject of scathing criticism from head coach Rick Carlisle following their heartbreaking 127-124 loss to the Chicago Bulls. The Mavs bench boss even went so far as to say Bulls point guard Kris Dunn had picked on the rookie phenom.

Not surprisingly, Smith Jr. has since come to his own defense. According to ESPN's Tim MacMahon, the ninth overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft thinks Carlisle's comments are a bit far-fetched:

“It ain't like he had all his points on me,” Smith said. “A couple of times I guarded him, I did a pretty solid job defensively.”

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Although Dennis Smith Jr. is adamant about doing his part defensively, the stat-sheet would say otherwise. Dunn had his best performance of the 2017-18 NBA season after finishing with 32 points on a stellar 12-of-17 shooting. He was also able to pour on nine assists and four steals in the clutch win over the Mavs.

In all fairness to Smith Jr., he was instrumental in keeping the game close with back-to-back clutch plays in the final 15 seconds of the game. Furthermore, it is not as if this was some flash-in-the-pan outing from Kris Dunn. The former fifth overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft has enjoyed quite a resurgence since being traded to the Bulls in the offseason. That said, it was still a bit disappointing to see Smith Jr. being clearly outplayed by another promising, young point guard.

Dennis Smith Jr. finished with 15 points, seven assists, and three steals. However, after finishing with a plus-minus of -4, perhaps Rick Carlisle could just be attempting to light a fire under the Mavs guard to help spur things on the defensive end.