Gets off to a surprising .500 start due to stingy defense in the fourth quarter

NBA players are too talented to let defense take everything away. Winning and losing depends on taking away the right things, and taking them away good enough.

That’s what the Nets did when it mattered to exceed expectations in Sunday’s matinee against Detroit.

The rebuilding Nets, like the Pistons, were locked in to compete for lottery position.

But Detroit is just 1-5, while the Nets are a surprising 3-3, having won three of four thanks to strong defense in the fourth quarter.

“In the end it’s a pretty exciting game,” coach Jordi Fernandez said. “The difference is that the players in this league are so good and you have to pay attention to those little details.”

For the Nets, these details have forced foes into the shots they can afford to give up, rather than the high-end looks their opponents want. They’ll look to continue that against Cade Cunningham & Co.

The Nets entered the weekend having limited their foes to the second-fewest three-point attempts in the league (31.8). They’ve done an even better job of running foes off the line late in the last four, nearly beating Denver and picking up wins over Milwaukee, Memphis and finally Chicago on Friday.

“Our guys understood that we couldn’t let a good team like (the Bulls) get up to many 3s — and they have really good shooters — just to keep hitting open shots,” said Fernandez, who saw his Nets go 14-of- 25 in the first half, but only 3 of 19 in the second. “From there you could see the urgency was there, flying around.

“If the game breaks, you can still fly around. Again, not perfect, but if they shoot 2-for-19, that certainly helps. And they were on pace to maybe break the NBA record for 3 seconds, and then these guys were everywhere. They did a great job, so it was nice to see.”

Fernandez saw them hold Chicago to .261 overall and 2 of 11 from deep in the final period. And he’s seen fourth-quarter defense become a common thread lately.

Poor fourth quarters cost the Nets the first two games, posting the second-worst rebounding percentage (40.0) and third-worst effective field goal percentage allowed (65.3) in the league. But since an Oct. 27 win over the Bucks, they are ranked first (61.1) and second (39.8).

Those could be the keys on Sunday, just as they were against Chicago on Friday.

“Just stop and try to secure the rebounds. They hurt us with the offensive glass. And basically I just try to distract them from the three-point line,” Cam Thomas told YES Network. “They were very efficient from the three-point line in the first half, but then we cut them back in the second half. So just try to limit their 3’s so we can run and get our shot. So we did that well.”

Once again, NBA defense is about choices.

Protecting the three-point line has come at a cost, especially since Nic Claxton blocked the shot has a minute limit and has yet to start a match.

Running shooters off the line has sparked drives, and the Nets have allowed the third-highest percentage of looks to the rim (30.4 percent of attempts came within one yard).

And without their normal rim protection, with Ben Simmons filling in at center, this is a weakness the Nets will look to address starting Sunday.

“It’s not just the shots at the rim. They are uncontested shots at the rim. That is what concerns me, and something that we are working with and aware of,” Fernandez said. “To a large extent our ball pressure is good. Sometimes you get beat, and then you have to find the edge and cover for your teammates.

“We’re not there yet. It’s pending. We know that all these high-level defensive teams, playoff teams – Orlando, Celtics, Minnesota – are very good at pressuring the ball and are very physical. It’s a process. It’s not like you become those kind of teams in one day. You have to go through it. But yes, we have to do better at the edge.”