Stars’ return, defense spark Nets in impressive win over Pacers to snap three-game skid

The Nets entered Wednesday mired in their worst losing skid of the season. But they finally got healthy, and finally got a win.

Brooklyn smothered Indiana, 99-90, to snap a three-game slide before a crowd of 16,748 at Barclays Center.

“Just winning games. Had a rough three-game stretch but got to have short-term memory and just get back on track,” Nic Claxton said before the game. “Obviously, the last game we gave up way too many points. Transition defense was bad. And then we have another challenge with Indiana. It’s a high-powered offense, they play real fast. So we really need to be sharp, especially with our transition defense.”

Brooklyn unplugged that high-powered offense, leading by as much as 21.

Struggling Indiana star Tyrese Haliburton admitted after their loss in Toronto that “the product we’re putting on the floor right now as a group is embarrassing.” The Nets, dealing with their own problems, were all too happy to add to Indiana’s.

Brooklyn got back Cam Johnson (game-high 26 points, 7-for-13 from deep) and Ben Simmons (seven points, game-high nine assists, seven rebounds), both of whom had missed the most recent game. They got a season-high 16 points from Claxton and 15 from Shake Milton off the bench.

But what they really got was tough defense, holding the Pacers to 42.7 percent shooting and just 8-for-33 from behind the arc. They protected the rim, allowing just 15 attempts in the restricted area.

“[The key is] defensively being better, put our hands up on the defensive end, play with more physicality, pick up 94 feet and help one another. I think that was missing the last three games, but we got a chance [now],” Dennis Schroder said.

“I think everybody’s seen it as well. We watched a lot of film. Everybody sees that every time we won a game, that we were physical, we helped each other, everybody was in the right spots. And we’ve got to get back to that. We’ve got to do it on a consistent basis, where we do it every single night, and it gives us a chance to win a game.”

Down 11-10 after ex-Knick Obi Toppin’s 3-pointer with 5:22 left in the first, the Nets put together an extended 27-9 run that spanned the quarters.

By the time Claxton threw down an alley-oop with 8:35 remaining in the half, the Nets had seized a 37-20 lead.

They padded that cushion to 46-25 when Milton found Johnson for a 3-pointer midway through the second quarter.

The Nets never lost that lead, although they watched it get whittled away for the rest of the evening. They were outscored 18-5 over a five-minute span from the end of the third to the start of the fourth.

TJ McConnell’s layup pulled Indiana within three, and Schroder’s turnover on the next possession handed Toppin a breakaway dunk to slice it to 77-76 with 9:15 to play.

Johnson finally broke the drought with a 3-pointer.

Pascal Siakam hit a midrange jumper, and after Trendon Watford missed a 3, he fouled Siakam to hand him the tying free throws with 8:06 left.

But knotted at 80-all, Simmons untied it, throwing down an alley-oop from Milton. Then Watford sandwiched four free throws around a Jalen Wilson drive, pushing the lead to eight. Simmons found Wilson for another drive to send Indiana into a timeout and Brooklyn to a 90-80 lead with 5:48 to play.

This one, the Nets held.

“We have to just find a way,” coach Jordi Fernandez said. “And the way you do it is taking more charges, go vertical more, because it’s obvious that I’m not going to be able to grow the guys in two days.

“So with that being said, just keep working at it, understanding and believing what’s good for us. Obviously, the ball pressure is something that I’m pleased with, and right now, defending the rim and rebounding has been a challenge. We have to do better.”

And Wednesday they did.