Sunday had all the makings of a trap. But the Nets didn’t take the bait.

With Christmas around the corner and facing a Phoenix team that was both tired and terrible, the Nets could’ve easily looked past the Suns to the holidays.

Instead, they locked in for a 111-103 win before a Barclays Center crowd of 15,310 that gave them a standing ovation in the waning moments.

“They gave us a tussle. It was a tough game,” coach Kenny Atkinson said.

“I keep hearing [it was a trap game]. I heard that from the coaches, I heard that from a reporter. I swear we don’t even think about it. We’ve been playing so well, so much with better habits,” Jared Dudley said. “This is a team we’re supposed to beat. We’ve got to come in with that mindset, which we did.”

Against the NBA-worst Suns (8-26) — who lost in triple overtime Saturday night against the Wizards in D.C. — they should win. And Phoenix looked tired, hitting just 3-of-17 from deep while T.J. Warren — averaging 18.9 points per game on the season and 25 per in his last three — was invisible with four points on 2-of-11 shooting from the floor.

The backcourt of D’Angelo Russell (18 points, team-high eight assists but seven turnovers) and Spencer Dinwiddie (team-high 24 points, seven assists) led the way. But Rodions Kurucs continued to surprise, with 16 points and a team-high 10 rebounds for his first double-double.

In the end, the Nets (16-19) finally played some defense in the second half, using a 13-0 run to blow it open.

“We had a tough time getting stops, especially early. They had 31 points in the first quarter. That’s a team on a back-to-back and three overtimes: We should do a better job there,” Atkinson admitted.

“We just had to make winning plays in order to get a little separation. We had to get stops and it took a lot,” Russell said. “Figuring out how to win. We’re coming to a conclusion on what we’ve got to do when it comes to finishing games, making those winning plays.”

It was still close at 66-64 with 8:26 left in the third after a turnaround jumper by Deandre Ayton, whom Dudley labeled “Shaq-esque” following the rookie’s 26-point, 18-rebound night. But the Nets never let the Suns get hot from the outside, and finally tightened up their defense to make those winning plays in their 13-0 run.

They held Phoenix scoreless for over 4 ½ minutes, forcing 11 straight misses, three of them by Devin Booker (25 points, nine assists).

By the time Jamal Crawford’s pull-up broke the drought with 3:55 left, the Nets had taken a 79-64 lead.

Dinwiddie’s reverse made it 93-74 early in the fourth, and Russell’s foul shots pushed it to 102-82 with 6:09 left. The Nets overcame some late turnovers and sloppiness for their eighth win in their last nine.

“For me personally, every time I get to play the Suns, this is a team that traded me basically for nothing, a player they didn’t even want. So for that franchise — to be able to come out there and get two Ws on those guys and keep it moving, it feels good,” said Dudley, who had a pair of 3s in their 28-18 third quarter. “I had a lot DNPs over there, so to come here and hit a couple dagger 3s feels good for me.”

It’ll feel good for the Nets, now just a game behind the plummeting Pistons for the last playoff spot and 1 ½ behind Charlotte for the sixth seed.

“We were ready to play, but Brooklyn is pretty aggressive in everything they do. They’re a team that, I don’t want to say bully-ball, but they’re pretty aggressive in anything,” Booker said. “They go all out and they play a lot harder down the stretch as well.”