Kenny Atkinson had been on his team to hit the boards harder, to cover for Jarrett Allen when he rotates to protect the rim.

They finally got the message. And DeMarre Carroll got it clearest of all, collecting 12 rebounds as the Nets earned a physical 101-85 win over the Spurs.

“I thought we had to match their physicality. I thought that was key,” Atkinson said. “I thought we did a good job of that, rebounding was good. We were ready for them physically, which was a concern.”

Clearly.

The Nets had been outrebounded in five of their past six games. They came into that slump 13th in the NBA in rebound percentage and 18th in defensive-rebounding percentage, but are 26th and 29th respectively since. But they beat San Antonio on the boards Monday, 51-47.

“Coach had been stressing rebounding from somebody other than Jarrett and Ed [Davis]. So I’m going to focus on rebounding,” Carroll said. “I haven’t really been trying to focus on scoring the ball, just rebounding and doing the little things. Right now we’ve got enough guys that can score. I can chip in here or there, but we’ve got to rebound, play defense and be that vocal leader.

“If I was younger I’d be crying about not getting touches. I think the last three games I only shot five shots each game. But at the end of the day I know what I bring to this team and I know what I’ve got to do to help this team. If it’s rebounding, if it’s scoring, if it’s vocal leader, I’ve got to do that…. I’m at a point in my career where nobody’s going to bring me in to score 20, 30 points. They’re going to bring me in to be a leader and do the little things.”

The starting backcourt of D’Angelo Russell and Caris LeVert combined for 12 rebounds after Atkinson had admitted concern before the game.

“We’re not physical enough right now. Rebounding, it’s just a fact. Quite honestly it’s scaring me a little bit,” Atkinson had said. “We have to do a much better job.”

The win snapped Brooklyn’s seven-game losing skid against San Antonio.

Brooklyn held the Spurs to just 85 points, the second-fewest they conceded this season (behind a season-low 82 points on Nov. 6 at Phoenix). Much of that was due to holding San Antonio to 4-of-24 from deep.

“I thought we communicated a lot better tonight and switching back and forth between the man and the zone defense was really good,” said Joe Harris, who went 5-of-7 from 3-point land. “If we can hold somebody to 101 points we’ll be in great shape.”