LOS ANGELES -- Enough with the loose lips.

They will not sink Mavericks backcourt shipmates Dennis Smith Jr. and Luka Doncic.

They've heard what people are saying, that it is going to be difficult to have two ballhandlers coexisting in the Mavericks' system.

Smith is having none of it.

And neither is one of the wise veteran leaders in the backcourt.

The play of Smith and Doncic together has been about the only thing skeptics can fret about as the team has gone 7-1 over the last 20 days. Yes, both like to have the ball. Yes, both can lead a team.

And yes, they are proving during this stretch that you can never have enough players who can run the offense. They have been dynamic when they have been on the court, whether it's together or not.

"People scrutinize everything," Smith said after the Mavericks' 128-108 win at Houston. "I told [Doncic]: I rock with you. I'm with him. There ain't a hate bone in my body.

"People try to come between things, but we don't worry about it. Everybody in this locker room got each other's backs. It's all good."

In case you were wondering if that's a universal feeling in the locker room, J.J. Barea had a few words of wisdom.

"If it wasn't going OK, I would have said something already," said Barea, one of the leaders of this team. "First of all, they're great people. And they're good teammates. I don't see a problem.

"It's a tough situation. But they're handling it really good and doing a good job together. You can see it when they play together. They're fine."

From coach Rick Carlisle's perspective, there's nothing but reasons to smile when he looks at a pairing of Doncic and Smith in the backcourt.

Both of them have flair, but in different ways. Both make things happen offensively, again in contrasting styles.

"You got two attacking point guards in our starting lineup," Carlisle said. "That's a pretty good situation. Their chemistry has improved game by game. I view it as a big plus for our team."

Smith, who turned 21 last week, is averaging 14.1 points and 3.9 assists per game. He's shooting 44.3 percent and 39.3 percent from 3-point range.

Yes, the scoring and assists are down. But his shooting percentages are way up.

And by the way, the Mavericks are 10-9. They didn't have their 10th win last season, Smith's rookie year, until the day after Christmas, when they already had 25 losses.

Doncic? He is leading the team in scoring at 19.1 points to go with 6.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists. Only a handful of players around the league can match those numbers.

"He understands the moment," owner Mark Cuban said. "And he's not afraid of it."

And the Mavericks have every intention of putting Doncic and Smith in positions where they can make life miserable for opposing defenses. Smith's blazing speed and Doncic's freelancing, sizing-defenses-up approach could become the perfect combo.

"People forget he just turned 21," Cuban said of Smith. "He's only had a year of professional basketball and a year of college basketball. He's got a lot to learn. He's taking much better shots. He's not pushing the ball as much as we'd like, but he will.

"[Smith and Doncic] are buddies. Their girlfriends hang out together. They get along great. They go two different speeds, obviously. When Dennis uses his speed, he's unstoppable. I tell him all the time: You're one of the fastest players in the NBA. When you use that speed to blow downcourt, you're an all-star. When you walk it up, you play old-man basketball. And we don't need old-man basketball."

Unless, of course, you consider the teenage tactical brilliance of Doncic to resemble old-man basketball -- as in wise beyond his years.

Briefly: Doncic suffered a nasty cut under his right eye at Houston on Wednesday. "I was just fighting for the ball and an elbow came," he said. "I don't know who it was. It's just part of the game." ... Carlisle on the 40-foot buzzer-beater Doncic hit at the end of the second quarter in Houston. "He does practice them. When you're doing the right things and playing hard and playing together, shots like that tend to fall in and the basketball gods are kind to you. But that's not how we're going to make our living. We're going to make our living grinding defensively, sticking together and moving the ball on offense."