Out of Necessity, the Nets Are Transformed, and Transcendent The Nets stiffened their defense before point guard Deron Williams, left, returned from injury. Last season, no factor correlated more to Nets victories than whether Brook Lopez played. On both sides of the court, the Nets never found a way to suitably replace him. When Lopez was injured last December, the Nets lost five straight and management fired Avery Johnson as coach. This season, the Nets are again playing without Lopez, who underwent season-ending surgery on his right foot, but Jason Kidd's job is secure. After outlasting the visiting Dallas Mavericks Friday, Kidd's team is an N.B.A.-best 9-1 in January. Without Lopez, and with the star guard Deron Williams battling injuries, the Nets have improved their defense and 3-point output behind an unorthodox starting lineup that is both small and quite big. When the Nets starters take the court, they tend to give up a little size at one position and gain it at others. Paul Pierce, at 6 feet 7 inches, is the nominal starting power forward, though he has spent almost his entire career as a small forward. Point guard Shaun Livingston is the same height as Pierce, which gives the Nets outstanding flexibility on defense. "When you have a point guard who's 6-7 and has the ability to switch, that helps," Kidd said of Livingston, who has started the last eight games, including three since Williams returned from injury. For the most part, the four smaller Nets defenders can guard every position except center, leaving Kevin Garnett to coordinate from the back line. With Lopez out, Garnett moves to center, a more comfortable position for him at this late stage in his career. Garnett has lost a step, but that does not matter as much when he is battling with centers inside rather than chasing forwards to the perimeter. Part of Garnett's role was to convey some of his defensive wisdom to Lopez. Now, Garnett is just playing his natural role as the quarterback of the defense. On Friday, Garnett said: "When you're a secondary - which was the first in our careers - you take a step back, you're not as forceful, you don't want to step on anyone's toes. Now, when you're a primary, plays are being called for you, and not only that, you're touching the ball, you're in a rhythm. We're thinking like primaries. We're out here being aggressive. We're trying to make things happen versus being in the way. The increase in energy has made the Nets a fearsome defensive force with Garnett on the court. In the last 10 games, the Nets" starting lineup has been the best defensive unit in the league, according to NBA.com. Kidd, who often stresses communication as the key to good defense, said, "You have veteran guys playing great team defense, talking to one another, and that's been the big thing as far as changes." After looking so lethargic and uncertain for the first couple months of the season, the Nets are winning loose balls, getting deflections and using their length to mitigate their lack of quickness. The return of the 6-foot-10 defensive specialist Andrei Kirilenko helps, too. As pests go in the N.B.A., Kirilenko ranks near the top, and he is also a sharp passer who moves magnificently off the ball. The Nets" improved intensity on the defensive end is unmistakable, but their new lineups have also benefited the offense. The reason the Nets are scoring more without Lopez, their leading scorer, is not that they are shooting more accurately behind the 3-point line but that they are just shooting from there much more. In January, the Nets have shot an average of six more 3-pointers per game than they shot earlier in the season. For perspective, in the same period, only the Denver Nuggets and the Golden State Warriors have attempted more 3-pointers. This is the effect of replacing Lopez with another shooter in the starting lineup and sharp ball movement. Kidd would not credit a specific strategy with yielding more 3-pointers. "That's just the nature of this team," Kidd said. We've got a lot of shooters on the floor, and then you have a lot of guys who can make plays and get in the paint to put pressure on the defense. Kirilenko attributed the recent success to time rather than new lineups. "It's just that after a few months, we just started clicking, like all together," he said. On defense, it's a lot of rotations. On offense, it's pass-pass. We're improving, and it's just too bad Brook is not with us. Instead of having Lopez pound his way to the paint from the low block, the Nets use a five-out look in which there is often no one occupying the post. Rather, ball movement and screening yields mismatches for big wings. Now that Williams looks healthy enough to play starter minutes - he played 35 minutes against Dallas - Kidd must decide how to fully integrate him while preserving the Nets" momentum. One solution may be to play Livingston and Williams together. They play the same position but have vastly different styles: Livingston prefers to keep the ball moving and attack sparingly, whereas Williams tends to dominate the ball more while looking to create directly for him and his teammates. The early returns on lineups with two point guards are positive. Like many great point guards, Williams prefers to control the tempo and feel of the game. His challenge will be to bring to bear his outstanding talent without overwhelming the rhythm the Nets have established in his absence. "That's the beauty of this team, the unpredictability of it," Pierce said. You play against Dallas you know Dirk is their guy. You play against Miami, you know it's LeBron. With this team, we have a number of guys who can have huge nights for us. That's what makes us so dangerous.