NBA

Nets coach Carlesimo knows win over LeBron, Heat would be big

This is the night the Nets can make a franchise statement as big as Brooklyn.

P.J. Carlesimo made it clear to his team what it will take to beat the Heat tonight at Barclays Center. Carlesimo has been around a long time and he knows that beating LeBron James is like beating Michael Jordan. It is special. It can carry you to new heights as a franchise.

Such a win can get you to believe in yourself and your team like never before.

It doesn’t just happen. You have to will your team to be better than the best. This is much more than a gut check for the Nets. Can they be elite?

The Nets wanted to be in Brooklyn and play with the NBA best — tonight they get that chance against the Heat and LeBron. The Nets have lost 12 straight to the Heat, but for the first time they are playing in Brooklyn against Miami. Time to man-up.

“When you beat LeBron’s team or Michael’s team,’’ Carlesimo told The Post after yesterday’s practice in East Rutherford, “you feel differently. You absolutely feel differently when you beat these guys.’’

Carlesimo made the point to his team that LeBron, the best of the best, works on his weakness in the offseason and turns them into strengths. That is the genius of his success.

“It’s scary what LeBron has done,’’ Carlesimo said.

LeBron’s teams have beaten the Nets 16 straight games.

Joe Johnson recognizes LeBron’s ability to improve in every aspect, noting his approach is much better.

“[His biggest area of improvement is] probably his IQ as a player,’’ Johnson said. “As you get older, you get smarter and wiser on the court and you do things a lot differently. I think if you look at it from early when he was in Cleveland until now, it’s kind of like night and day.”

“Look, every single person prefers to win,’’ Carlesimo said. “But very few people are willing to do what it takes to ensure that. The special ones are and the special teams are. The really good teams understand.’’

That is what he is trying to get his team to understand.

“They all want to win,’’ Carlesimo said. “They all feel terrible after they lose, but are they going to do the things in the offseason to make themselves better? Are they going to come in and have a good practice today? Are they going to play a bigger percentage of every possession in the game to give themselves the chance to win?

“During the year, if you get good at playing every possession then you can get to the playoffs and do those things,’’ Carlesimo said. “You can’t just get to the playoffs and do those things. You can’t just say, ‘Hey, we’ve got to take it up a notch now.’ If it’s not second nature to you by the time you get to the playoffs, it doesn’t matter.’’

Improvements must be made daily, and when you play the defending champions, you have to do all that to have a chance at victory, especially because the Heat are coming off a loss to the Celtics and a Presidential visit and will be playing in Brooklyn for the first time.

That is part of the package for the Nets, who wanted to escape New Jersey and set up a new identity in Brooklyn. Tonight the Nets have the opportunity to make a statement: Beat the Heat. Beat LeBron.

“Every once in a while the Heat has a bad game or they don’t show up, but I don’t think that is going to happen because they know [the Brooklyn Nets] are the new kids on the block, so we are going to get a normal Miami visit,’’ Carlesimo said.

The coach wouldn’t want it any other way. He is ready for his team to be tested by the best. The Brooklyn Nets need to stand up tonight to make a winning statement to the Heat and the rest of the NBA.

C’mon Brooklyn, show us something.