The Cavaliers reportedly want to face the Nets in the playoffs.

Nothing that happened between the teams Tuesday night likely convinced them otherwise.

The Nets couldn’t handle New York-bred star Donovan Mitchell and couldn’t stop Cleveland, losing 115-109 before a sellout crowd of 17,732 at Barclays Center.

Mitchell poured in a game-high 31 points, threw down a poster-worthy dunk over Yuta Watanabe, and was serenaded with chants of “MVP! MVP!” in the Nets’ own building.

And frankly he looked like one.

Facing a pivotal week for their postseason prospects, the Nets (39-33) have lost four straight — and are in danger of dropping into the dreaded play-in.

“The biggest thing is to show our guys that we’ve done this before,” coach Jacque Vaughn said. “We’ve won on the road, we’ve won versus high-quality teams, we’ve won at home, we’ve won back-to-back, all of the above. We’ve done it, we’ve seen it. So I think that’s the message for our group is we’re just in a stretch right now where we’ve got to make sure we pull things together, stay together.”

Vaughn’s team trails the fifth-seeded Knicks by 2 ½ games and its once-healthy lead over seventh-seeded Miami has shriveled to just one-half game.

The Knicks and Heat were both idle Tuesday night, but will face each other Wednesday night in Miami.

The Nets will host the Cavaliers (46-28) again Thursday night before heading to play in Miami on Saturday to wrap up this crucial week of games.

After the Nets led 30-23 following one quarter, the Heat started the second quarter with a 23-8 run to grab the lead away.

The Nets then allowed a 23-5 blitz at the start of the third, effectively losing the game.

“I think just lapses in quarters like the second and third, just getting down, those are tough,” Mikal Bridges, who scored 18 points, said. “I think we’ve just got to come out, you know, whatever quarter it is and just stay with the same intensity the whole game.”

Mitchell’s star power and Cleveland’s size advantage (at least indirectly) proved too much to handle.

The Nets crashed the boards to outrebound the Cavaliers 49-34, but paid for it with a lack of fast-break leak-outs and inability to defend the arc. The Cavaliers shot 14-for-29 from 3-point range.

Vaughn went to Day’Ron Sharpe for size, and the bruising backup led the Nets with 20 points and 11 rebounds (nine offensive) off the bench, while Spencer Dinwiddie added 19 points and 11 assists. But the Nets were just 9-for-33 from behind the arc.

“We got a little stagnant with the basketball and some of those shots didn’t go in. At the end of the night, we got some quality looks — 9-for-33 from 3 against a team like that, you have to make shots,” Vaughn said. “Tough second quarter for us. … It always seems there’s one quarter that really punches us in the gut a little. So we’ve got to be able to sustain through all those runs.”

The flaws that have the fourth-seeded Cavaliers hoping for a first-round matchup with the Nets, according to Cleveland.com, were on full display.

The Nets jumped out to their 30-23 lead after the first quarter, and the lead was still 32-27 with 10:50 left in the half after Bridges hit a midrange fadeaway.

But a 16-4 Cleveland blitz changed all that, with former Net Jarrett Allen (12 points, 14 boards) banking in a hook shot for a 43-36 Cavaliers lead.

The Nets were still hanging around at the break, down just 61-55. But coming out of the locker room, they lost contact altogether, surrendering a 23-5 blitz. Cleveland shot 9-for-13 on the run, capped by Mitchell’s crossover and step-back 3 to make it 84-60 with 6:16 left in the third.

Finally, he threw down a monstrous fast-break dunk on Watanabe, posterizing the Nets’ forward.

Cam Johnson hit a running 3 to pull the Nets within 108-97 with 4:43 left to play. They later got within six points, but no closer.