Based on what's happened in his last four games - plus the fact that Rick Carlisle basically said as much Thursday night - the experiment of Harrison Barnes as a power forward is finished.

Or at the least, on the shelf for a while.

Barnes has been playing almost exclusively at his natural small-forward position lately and it has set very well with him.

"I love it," he said.

All Barnes has done in the four games since Carlisle made the decision to go back to a more traditional lineup with Dirk Nowitzki and Dwight Powell at the big positions is average 24.3 points and shot the ball with great accuracy (37-of-76, 48.7-percent).

It's by design. Going forward, if the Mavericks are going to build around Barnes and Dennis Smith Jr., it's hard to envision any scenario when Barnes plays anything other than small forward if the Mavericks are going to become relevant again.

"That's where we're going," Barnes said. "That's the future of what we're trying to do. I just need to get better at the playmaking stuff.

"This is an opportunity to work on playmaking and work on scoring in different ways. I'm trying to make the most of these last games."

Interestingly, there is a faction of Maverick fans that believe Barnes has taken a step back this season after he averaged 19.2 points and 5 rebounds in his first season with the club last year.

Maybe the horrid record has something to do with it.

Or maybe it's the subdued way that Harrison Barnes goes about his business.

Whatever the reason, there appears to be a significant percentage of Maverick fans who believe that the best player on the team has had a subpar season - or at least a leveling out of his production after he was the surprise of the franchise in 2016-17.

All he's done is lead the Mavericks in scoring and rebounding, after all. He's averaging 18.7 points and 6.3 rebounds.

But it's the past few games that have Carlisle's attention.

"Personally, I'm focusing very closely on the last 15 games," Carlisle said. "We're doing a lot of things now where we're putting him in playmaking situations. We've tweaked the offense a little bit. And that's going to be the part of the season I'm looking at the closest.

"The last (few) games in playmaking situations, he's done a terrific job. And it's important in a season like this, when you're not going to make the playoffs, that you find ways to push the envelope with all your players and find ways to develop guys like him even further."

That has meant taking Barnes out of the post and moving him more to the perimeter, where he can catch and go with the ball, whether it's in the pick and roll or on isolation plays.

So far, the results are hard to argue with.

Twitter: @ESefko