Thanks to stingy defense in the fourth quarter, an amazing .500 start

NBA players are too talented on defense to take it all away. Winning and losing depends on taking the right things, and taking them well enough.

Here’s what the Nets did when it mattered to exceed expectations Sunday morning against visiting Detroit.

The rebuilding Nets, like the Pistons, were tied for a lottery spot.

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

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

For the Nets, those details force opponents to take shots they can afford to give up, rather than the high-value looks their opponents want. They will look to keep it going against Cade Cunningham & Co.

The Nets entered the weekend limiting their opponents to the second-most 3-point attempts in the league (31.8). They’ve done an even better job of driving foes out of the lane at the end of their last four tilts, nearly beating Denver and picking up wins over Milwaukee, Memphis and finally Chicago on Friday.

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

“When plays break, you can still fly. Again, not perfect, but when they shoot 2-for-19, it sure helps you. And they were on their way to maybe breaking the NBA record by 3 seconds, and then these guys were everywhere. They did a great job, so it was great 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 of late.

A poor fourth quarter cost the Nets the first two games, posting the second-worst rebounding percentage (40.0) and third-worst field goal percentage (65.3) in the league. But after the victory over the Bucks on October 27, they are ranked first (61.1) and second (39.8).

This could be a key point on Sunday, just as it was on Friday against Chicago.

“Just stopping, trying to get a rebound. They hit us on the glass. And really just trying to drive them beyond the 3-point line,” Cam Thomas told YES Network. “They were very efficient from the 3-point line in the first half, but then we cut them short in the second. So just try to limit their 3 so we can run away and get our chance. So we handled it well.”

Again, NBA defenses are all about picks.

Defending the 3-point line proved costly, especially after Nick Claxton blocked a shot has a minutes limit and has not started a game yet.

Shooting from the line led to drives, and the Nets allowed the third-highest percentage of looks at the rim (30.4 percent of attempts that were within three feet).

And without their usual rim protection, with Ben Simmons filling in under center, that was a weakness the Nets will look to address starting Sunday.

“These are not only blows to the edge. These are undeniable blows to the edge. That’s what worries me and that’s what we’re working with and we’re aware of that,” Fernandez said. “For the most part, our pressure on the ball is good. Sometimes you get beat and then you have to get the rim and cover for your teammates.

“We are not there yet. It is in process. We know that all these high-level defensive teams, playoff teams — Orlando, Celtics, Minnesota — they press the ball very well and are very physical. It’s a process. It is not that in one day, you will become such teams. You have to go through it. But yeah, we have to do better at the rim.”