Harrison Barnes responds to Spurs critics as only veterans know how

The San Antonio Spurs have one of the youngest cores in the NBA. Stephon Castle, Julian Champagnie, Dylan Harper, Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, and Victor Wembanyama are all 26 or younger, and De'Aaron Fox only recently entered his prime at 28 years of age himself.

That's made 33-year-old veteran Harrison Barnes a pivotal figure both on the court and in the locker room. As such, perhaps it was inevitable that he'd overcome recent adversity.

Barnes shot the lights out early in the season, burying 43.4 percent of his shots from three-point range between his first 24 appearances. Unfortunately, he shot just 27.8 percent from beyond the arc across the 26 games between Dec. 13 and Feb. 4.

That ultimately led to Barnes spending two of three games coming off the bench—his first appearances as a non-starter since 2015-16.

Barnes returned to the starting lineup on Feb. 5, with all eyes on his broken jump shot. While many young players would force the issue and attempt to get up as many shots as possible to prove they can work through their poor run of form, Barnes took a different approach.

The former NBA champion took the shots that came to him, competed on both ends of the floor, and ultimately turned in one of his best performances of the season.

Harrison Barnes responds to adversity with patience and poise

Barnes finished the Spurs' 135-122 win over the Dallas Mavericks with 19 points, three assists, one rebound, and one steal in 34 minutes of play. He shot 5-of-7 from beyond the arc and a perfect 4-of-4 at the charity stripe, thus doing everything in his power to counter Cooper Flagg and Naji Marshall's massive evenings.

Flagg and Marshall combined for 64 points at the forward positions, and while Barnes may not have matched their output, his sharpshooting showing proved invaluable.

Barnes scored 11 of his 19 points in the second half, including five crucial points in the fourth quarter. It was a rather gutsy showing considering how poorly he's been shooting and how ill-advised it was for him to attempt seven threes.

Barnes never seemed to be forcing his way into the Spurs' gameplan, however, as he instead waited for shots to come his way and cashed in on the opportunities.

All five of Barnes' three-point field goals made were assisted. Furthermore, he came up with four deflections, forced three turnovers, and produced the fifth-highest net rating of any player on the team during their rivalry game victory.

Time will tell if Barnes can return to an efficient level of shooting, but his showing against the Mavericks proved why veterans are so important in the NBA.