Hours before tipoff, Kevin Durant spoke glowingly about the foundation the Nets are building for years to come.

The fringes of that foundation then helped demonstrate why he is right to be optimistic about the organization’s future — or maybe even the immediate future if things ever break better than they have so far for this depleted team.

Down Kyrie Irving (unvaccinated), Ben Simmons (herniated disc), Andre Drummond (non-COVID illness), Joe Harris (ankle surgery) and Seth Curry (left ankle sprain) for the entire second half, Durant and the ReplaceNets pieced together one of their most impressive victories of the season in a 114-106 win over the Western Conference-power Jazz in front of a sellout crowd of 17,887 at Barclays Center on Monday night.

The Nets (38-34) have won six of seven and remain in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, a game up on the ninth-place Hornets and two games behind the seventh-place Raptors.

“We’re rallying around each other, we’re making big plays,” said Durant, whose Nets have won three of their past four without Irving. “We’re just doing it together more than anything.”

Brooklyn finished the game without four-fifths of what projects to be its strongest lineup, but Durant was sizzling, Bruce Brown (22 points) looked like the team’s second-best player and an efficient Nic Claxton rounded out a strange but effective Big 3.

Durant, as always, was the biggest. He finished with 37 points on 15 of 23 from the floor to go with nine rebounds and eight assists, a tour de force while leading the second-half burst in which the Nets left one of the top teams in the West behind.

“Scoring the ball, distributing the ball, defending, rebounding — so total effort from Kevin,” Steve Nash said of Durant, who has scored 75 points in two games. “We needed it, and he was incredible.”

The Jazz (45-27) were playing on the second half of a back-to-back in this New York swing, but they still dressed Donovan Mitchell, Mike Conley Jr. and Rudy Gobert, who was handled by Claxton.

The Nets were forced to sacrifice plenty of weight in sitting Drummond, but the mobile Claxton (15 points on 7 of 8 from the floor) was everywhere Gobert (11 points in 30 minutes) was — and even threw down a transition dunk on the three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year.

“That’s all Nic,” Brown said when asked about the Nets limiting Gobert. “Nic did a hell of a job.”

The Nets were rolling and they knew it, frequently trash-talking with the Jazz.

“I’m not a trash talker — but once someone starts talking to me, then I get going,” Brown said.

The Nets won the game in the third quarter, when they used a 20-10 run to create separation. Claxton and a dusted-off Blake Griffin silenced Gobert and Hassan Whiteside (six points). Brown went 6 of 11 in the third quarter alone and was the chief beneficiary of Utah’s defense shifting to Durant. Griffin, a nonfactor since Drummond was added, contributed nine points on 3 of 4 shooting while active defensively.

And Durant, too, was excellent. The lead was pushed to 84-68 after a pair of Durant 3s, the second of which made Durant practically skip back on defense, pumping his arms in celebration. They would balloon the gap from there until the final minutes, when the Jazz got as close as six points away. But with the game in the balance, Durant drove and lobbed an alley-oop for Claxton, a fitting exclamation point to a team victory.

The day started with Durant making an admission that he understands the Nets simply may never become whole this season and are worse for it.

“I signed here for five years to play,” Durant said after Nets shootaround. “Obviously this year’s important, but no matter what happens this year, I still want to do it again. And again. I want to continue to play, have this group together as long as we can.

“So short term, we can focus on [this year’s chances] for sure, but we’re also looking at the big picture of things.”

In the future, the Nets hope, Irving (who can opt out after this season) will be eligible for Barclays Center games because New York City’s private-sector mandate eventually will be repealed. Just as Simmons — who is dealing with a herniated disc that is threatening to delay his team debut until next season — eventually should have a healthy back and mind.

Both of those pieces might not be in place this season.

But when Durant is playing like he is and so are the ReplaceNets, the present looks nearly as bright as the future.