Pau Gasol Tried to Guard Dennis Smith Jr. and Went Really Well For Dennis Smith Jr.

Dennis Smith Jr. scored a career high 27 points in a Dallas Mavericks loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday. 18 of those points came in the 4th as the Spurs pulled away and the Mavericks didn’t really have anywhere else to turn. Two of those points came in the 1st when Pau Gasol switched onto Smith.

Pau did everything right. He backed off a bit in hopes that maybe he’d settle for a jumper. He forced him left. He just was helpless.

Meanwhile, Smith continues to live up to the hype that made LeBron insult the New York Knicks over the weekend. The Mavericks are bad, but Smith is exciting. He’s averaging 19.6 points in November and is making a respectable 37% of his 3-point attempts.