Nets off to surprising .500 start due to stingy fourth-quarter defense

NBA players are too talented for defenses to take away everything. Winning and losing depends on taking away the right things, and taking them away well enough.

That’s what the Nets have done when it mattered to surpass expectations coming into Sunday’s matinee against visiting Detroit.

The rebuilding Nets, like the Pistons, had been pegged to be vying 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 fourth-quarter defense.

“At the end of the day, it’s a pretty close game,” coach Jordi Fernandez said. “The difference is, in this league, players are so good, and you’ve just got to take care of those little details.”

For the Nets, those details have been forcing foes into the shots they can afford to give up, not the high-value looks their opponents want. They’ll look to continue that against Cade Cunningham & Co.

The Nets came into the weekend having limited their foes to the second-fewest 3-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 tilts, nearly beating Denver and earning wins over Milwaukee, Memphis and finally Chicago on Friday.

“Our guys understood that we could not let a good team like [the Bulls] dish a lot of 3s —and they have really good shooters — just to keep shooting open shots,” said Fernandez, who saw his Nets allow 14-of-25 in the first half but just 3-of-19 in the second. “From there, you saw the urgency was there, flying around.

“When plays break down, you can still fly around. Again, not perfect, but when they shoot 2-for-19, for sure, that helps you. And they were on pace to maybe break the NBA record for 3s, and then these guys were everywhere. They did a great job, so it was good 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 their first two games, posting the second-worst rebound percentage (40.0) and third-worst effective field goal percentage allowed (65.3) in the league. But since an Oct. 27 victory over the Bucks, they rank first (61.1) and second (39.8).

Those may be the keys Sunday the same way they were Friday against Chicago.

“Just getting stops, trying to secure the rebounds. They were hurting us on the offensive glass. And really just trying to run them off the 3-point line,” Cam Thomas told YES Network. “They were really efficient from the 3-point line in the first half, but then we cut them down in the second. So just try to limit their 3s so we can get on a run and get our shot. So we did a good job of that.”

Again, NBA defense is about choices.

Protecting the 3-point line has come at a cost, especially since shot-blocking Nic Claxton is on a minutes limit and has yet to start a game.

Running shooters off the line has led to drives, and the Nets have allowed the third-highest percentage of looks at the rim (30.4 percent of attempts coming within three feet).

And without their normal rim protection as Ben Simmons fills in at center, it’s been a weakness the Nets will look to address, beginning Sunday.

“It’s not just the shots at the rim. It’s uncontested shots at the rim. That’s what worries me, and something that we’re working with and we’re aware of it,” Fernandez said. “A lot of it is our ball pressure is good. Sometimes, you’ll get beat, and then you have to get the rim and cover for your teammates.

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