With 0.9 seconds left on the clock, and his team down three, Spencer Dinwiddie knew all he could do was catch and shoot.A pump fake would have taken too long.

Same for an escape dribble or a double-clutch. So from a few steps inside of halfcourt, he caught an inbounds pass and hoisted a wide-open shot that tied Saturday’s matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers at 101 apiece.

Until officials reviewed the play and determined the ball was still in his hands when the clock struck zero. The Nets lost a nail-biter to the Sixers, 101-98.

“I thought it was gonna be catch and shoot, Derek Fisher with 0.4,” Dinwiddie said postgame. “I actually got a text from my bio-mechanics dude saying that he actually legitimately timed it and it was 0.78 on the nose, which is funny, but that’s life. I guess we’ve gotta talk to our in-game clock operator, right?”

Length, athleticism, defense, and a whole lot of three-point shooting, but who’s going to take the last shot?

Welcome to the second rendition of the 2022-23 Brooklyn Nets, where the outcome of a game is no longer solely dependent on a superstar’s availability — unless that game comes down to the final possession.

Down one with the game on the line, Jacque Vaughn drew up a play for Mikal Bridges, the highlight of the deal that sent Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns. Bridges came off a screen to catch an inbounds pass and had a free lane to the rack, but missed an easy layup.

“I thought it was good,” Bridges said. “I thought I put the right little touch on it because I saw (Joel) Embiid stepping up.

“And then I turned and I saw Nic [Claxton] reach out and try to get the rebound. I was like, ‘Oh no.’ I looked at the time. I was hot. But it’s part of life. I’ll just get the next one.”

And on the following possession, after Joel Embiid netted two free throws, Dinwiddie’s deep three was ruled too late.

It was an impressive effort against a Philadelphia 76ers team with all their stars and role players available.

Embiid, James Harden, Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris were each available for the Sixers Saturday evening, yet the new-look Nets played to their newfound strengths, the chief of which comes as a byproduct of an influx of size in the starting lineup.

Head coach Jacque Vaughn moved Ben Simmons and Royce O’Neale to the bench. The Nets started all four newcomers alongside Nic Claxton: Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith, the pair who came to Brooklyn in the Irving trade to the Dallas Mavericks; and both Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson, the “twins” who arrived from Phoenix in the Durant deal.

All five starters are at least 6-foot-5. Four of the five starters are capable three-point shooters. All five starters can guard multiple positions.

And all five play hard every minute they’re on the floor.

That much was evident as a newly-formed Nets team outworked the Sixers on both ends of the floor, starting with their effort on the defensive end.

“The biggest thing is we only gave up 101 points,” Vaughn said postgame. “Told the group if we’re able to put ourselves in positions to defend that way on an every-night basis, we’ll give ourselves a chance to win every single game. Commend our group for really concentrating on defensive end of the floor, giving ourselves a chance.”

The Nets used their newfound length to crowd the paint and make decisions difficult for Embiid, the superstar albatross of a big man who torched the Nets for 37 points and 13 rebounds. James Harden added 29 points, six rebounds and six assists and was subject to boos from the same Barclays Center fans who once cheered him before he forced a trade to Philadelphia last season.

Tyrese Maxey came off the bench and scored 12 points. No other Sixer scored more than six points, a testament to the length and defensive chops now on display from the Nets’ new lineup.

The stars, of course, shine brightest in the fourth quarter. That’s where the Nets project to miss Irving and Durant the most.

Bridges led the Nets with 23 points and six rebounds in his Nets debut. Dinwiddie shot just 2-of-10 from the field for 9 points, six rebounds and six assists. Joe Harris came off the bench to hit six threes and Cam Thomas scored 14 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field.

The Nets played an almost perfect basketball game but have become used to Durant or Irving winning games for them in crunch time. How do they win these games down the stretch now? More importantly, who do they turn to as the new closer?

The Sixers outscored the Nets 25-16 in the fourth quarter.

“I think we had some good looks. And so whether that was Spencer’s dunk at the rim, his layup attack, Mikal had a good look, we had to open threes,” Vaughn said. “So we could still play at a pace and create shots for each other, I think that’d be all right for us.”

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