ORLANDO, Fla. — The Nets were clearly hung over from their draining comeback in Houston. But they still managed to back it up with an even more staggering rally Friday in Orlando. That’s the kind of roll they’re on.

The Nets seemed dead and buried before storming back for a 117-115 victory in front of 17,840 at Amway Center.

“We didn’t play a great game, and it’s a credit to our team we pulled it out anyway,” Kenny Atkinson said. “I knew it was going to be a tough game after the big win against Houston. … We were just really resilient.”

They had to be. After erasing a six-point Houston lead with a half-minute remaining in regulation — and a seven-point deficit with a minute-and-a-half left in overtime — the Nets (24-23) dug themselves a much deeper hole Friday, trailing by 21. But they dug back out behind D’Angelo Russell’s career-high 40 points.

“We’ve got a gutsy group,” Russell said. “That’s us getting over that hump. We know we could’ve easily came out and laid out flat. We started off flat and they got off to a good start, but we knew what we had to do to get the win.

“As a group we know how much work we’ve put in in the summer and how much work we put in going into these games, so why not win?”

Why not? Spencer Dinwiddie had seven of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, including a four-point play for a 113-111 lead with 54.9 seconds to play. Russell drilled a 3-pointer with 27.1 left to give them a 116-113 lead they never surrendered.

After an 8-18 start, the Nets are 16-5 since Dec. 7 to jump a game ahead of Miami for the sixth seed in the East.

“Man, it’s a whole lot better winning. That’s not even close, bruh,” Dinwiddie said. “We know we can’t dig ourselves those types of deficits. But to be that resilient to come back is big time for us.”

The Nets trailed 58-37 after Jonathan Isaac’s cutting layup with 4:35 left in the half. But Russell had every Nets point in a 19-11 run to get Brooklyn back in the game, trailing 67-54 at the break.

The Nets did lose Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who limped off gingerly and didn’t return. But they sliced the deficit to 95-86 going into the fourth. Shabazz Napier’s corner 3 to open the period cut it to six, and they got it to a four-point deficit four times before breaking through to win.

“It’s beautiful to watch a group that’s struggled in certain situations now grow and be confident,” Atkinson said. “It’s up to us how much more we want: It’s there for the taking. We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, I want to stay humble. But we know where we are right now. [This] was a big statement.”

A drive by DeMarre Carroll made the score 111-107 with 2:42 to play, and after forcing a DJ Augustin miss, Russell’s drive brought them within a basket. After another stop, Dinwiddie got fouled by Augustin on a corner 3 and hit the ensuing free throw for a 113-111 edge.

Nikola Vucevic (16 points, 17 rebounds) tied it, but Russell untied it with his huge jab-step 3-pointer against Evan Fournier for a 116-113 lead they never lost.

Terrence Ross missed one of two foul shots with 22.5 seconds to play, and Dinwiddie did the same with 9.6 left to leave the lead at two. The Nets made it stand up when — playing zone — Carroll peeled off Augustin to contest Evan Fournier into a miss.

“Being in the league, you know you just go and make plays. That was a play,” Carroll said. “If he kicked it in the corner and [Augustin] hit that 3, I’ve got to live with that, too. But I feel like at the time, he was going to shoot that, so I wanted to get it. But it was a great win.”