It was fitting Saturday night to see a variety of bright colors splashed across the edges of Barclays Center’s “City Edition” court.

Because the Nets sent up a red flag in the paint.

If Lakers center Andre Drummond — signed just two weeks ago after his contract was bought out by the Cavaliers — can dominate the Nets around the rim for 20 points on 8 of 15 shooting and 11 rebounds, what could a healthy Anthony Davis do if the powerhouse teams meet in the NBA Finals?

Or, more immediately, what will the Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns and the 76ers’ Joel Embiid do in the next two games? Especially now that Aldridge is ruled out for Monday against Minnesota with an unidentified non-COVID-19 illness.

“They’re two very different matchups,” coach Steve Nash said. “I think Towns ends up playing more on the perimeter, a lot of pick and pop, a lot of kind of isolating and outside. Joel is obviously a lot more of an inside interior presence who can go outside if he needs to. So, different looks.”

The Nets are allowing the 11th-most points in the paint (48.6 per game) in the league this season. Surprisingly, the number is better (43.2) over the last five games since defensive-minded DeAndre Jordan went from starting to completely out of the frontcourt rotation behind Aldridge, Blake Griffin and Nic Claxton.

But the competition during that small stretch hasn’t been the same as two of the best 7-footers in the league.

“Our team is going to have to be able to attack them defensively in different ways, so I think we’ve got to be versatile,” Nash said. “We’re going to play different lineups. We’ve got to be able to find an effective balance regardless of the matchup.”

Aldridge shouldered the blame for Drummond’s big game, but it’s possible he was feeling early illness symptoms.

“I’ve got to be more active,” Aldridge said. “I’ve played versus him all these years. I came out way too passive, couldn’t get my motor going, but that’s on me. I’ll definitely do better at trying to set the tone for the team.”

He wasn’t alone. The Nets’ team defense was cringe-worthy in the blowout loss to the Davis-less and LeBron James-less Lakers.

“I think we didn’t get into the ball enough,” forward Jeff Green said. “We were too lax, allowed them to get space whenever they wanted to. That is stuff that we control.”

The Nets signed Aldridge off the buyout market with the idea that he could stretch the floor on offense by hanging around the 3-point line, creating penetration lanes for Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and James Harden.

Back when Jordan still was starting at center on March 29, Towns had his way against the Nets, collecting 31 points — he shot 4 of 8 from 3-point range — and 12 rebounds in a loss. The Nets might be wise to try the athletic Claxton on Towns and turn to the physical Jordan against Embiid.

“I’m still getting my legs back,” Aldridge said. “I haven’t played this many games in a while. No excuses, but I’m going to take this on the chin, and I’ll be better.”

Towns has averaged 25.5 points in 10 career matchups against the Nets, good for his fifth-best average against any opponent. The Nets have played down to poor competition throughout the season, but the Timberwolves (13-40) can be bullied.

“I don’t think we have to be more physical than teams,” Nash said. “We just have to match the effort and intensity. I thought we succumbed a little bit to [the Lakers’] intensity and physicality, and it’s a good lesson for us.”