After the Nets came out of their last meeting with the Pistons as the NBA’s most maddening team, they escaped this rematch as the league’s hottest. And they showed the tough lessons they took from their season-turning epiphany.

The shorthanded Nets gutted out a workmanlike 100-95 win over Detroit in front of 1,364 at Barclays Center, the kind of ugly defensive-minded slugfest they never would’ve won a month ago.

“It’s very important for us,” said James Harden, who had 24 points, 10 boards, 10 assists and even added three blocks, garnering chants of MVP! MVP! “We can be a team that’s making shots and everything’s going smooth, or we can be a team that we’ve got to get down and do the dirty work, dive on the floor, small things, deflections. [This] was one of those games.

“We barely cracked 100, but we held them to 95; that’s great defense. Our shot wasn’t falling, but we still found a way to win. That’s going to be key going to the postseason because everything isn’t going to be sweet.”

Of all the reasons they won, Harden and their improved defense were the biggest.

With their normal shots not falling, the Nets held Detroit to just .409 shooting overall, and .258 from deep. And even Brooklyn blew a dozen-point lead to fall behind 91-90 with under three minutes left, Harden delivered a victory. He scored the Nets’ final 10 points down the stretch, carrying them to a fourth straight win.

“It’s a positive sign,” Steve Nash said. “We hung in there, weathered it and found ways to win. That’s only positive when you win without your typical game.”

After suffering a humiliating Feb. 9 loss in Detroit — allowing .560 shooting — the Nets were a disappointing 14-12. Worse, they had shown little on-court chemistry and a tendency to get upset by teams they perceived as beneath them.

It was, in short, a bad look. And its one they have rectified since.

“We definitely mentioned that Detroit loss and how embarrassing that was. From that point on, we’ve been playing pretty good basketball,” said Harden, who notched his ninth triple-double as a Net. “We’re going to get teams’ best shots and we’ve got to be prepared for it.”

Despite shooting just .222 from deep, the Nets (26-13) improved to an NBA-best 12-1 since that humble pie forced them to self-evaluate — all but one of those wins without hamstrung Kevin Durant.

“That game a lot of us were frustrated with our play individually, our play collectively as a whole,” DeAndre Jordan said. “And we talked about it, we figured out and we came back and responded. That’s what a lot of the great teams do and we want to be a great team. We had to figure out a way to respond to that.”

After blowing a 12-point lead, the Nets saw a Rodney McGruder floater pull Detroit within 90-89 with three minutes left, and Mason Plumlee’s putback dunk gave the Pistons a 91-90 lead with 2:59 remaining.

But the Nets held Detroit to 1-of-4 with a turnover the rest of the way. And Harden personally outscored the Pistons 10-4 to close out the victory, his consecutive floaters serving as twin daggers to put it away with 19 seconds left.

“There’s some games where we’re going to have it going, and there’s some games where we’re going to have to grind it out. [This] was a night like that,” Jordan said. “But it just shows how much better we’re getting.”

Jordan had 14 points and nine boards. Kyrie Irving had 18 points and Landry Shamet 15.

“We know down the line there’s going to be a playoff game or a crucial game where the other team is taking away a couple of our options, or James, Ky or Kevin [Durant] aren’t having their best night. We’ve got to know that’s probably going to happen. It’s basketball,” Shamet said. “That’s when it’s even more important that we’re doing all the little things. Other guys have to contribute.”