Apparently, the Nets know where to go when they need their first win.

Nearly a year after ending a 0-7 start at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Brooklyn returned Sunday and beat the Indiana Pacers 98-90, stopping another season-opening skid at five.

The building was familiar. The response to a difficult night was something the Nets needed to see more often.

“It wasn’t a pretty win, but it’s a win regardless. We got that zero out of that column, so we’re really happy about that,” Michael Porter Jr. said.

Brooklyn shot just 41.1% and committed 18 turnovers, but the missed shots didn’t pull the team apart. Nolan Traoré found his jumper after halftime, Julius Randle added timely baskets and passes, and Day’Ron Sharpe kept working the glass.

“I’d rather take a win like this that you have to grind all the way because that just makes you better,” head coach Jordi Fernández said.

Porter, who scored 32 points in last season’s breakthrough against Indiana, again led Brooklyn, finishing with 23 points and nine rebounds. Randle added 20 points and six assists, while Traoré had 16 points and six assists. Randle and Traoré each made four 3-pointers.

Sharpe had 15 points, 13 rebounds and four assists. The starting center’s work helped Brooklyn withstand its shooting struggles, and the Pacers’ attempts to turn a close game into another uncomfortable finish.

That had been a problem. After Friday’s loss to Detroit, Fernández and his veterans described a group that became quieter and less connected when opponents made their runs.

However, Sunday brought a different response. The Nets won each of the first three quarters, building a lead through a poor shooting half and then finding enough offense to protect it.

“The ball has energy and everybody touched the ball and then there was movement of the ball and movement of bodies,” Fernández said.

Indiana’s depleted roster provided an opportunity Brooklyn needed to take. The Pacers were without Tyrese Haliburton, Ivica Zubac, T.J. McConnell and Obi Toppin. The Nets also played without Egor Dëmin, sidelined by a right leg bone bruise, and Mikel Brown Jr., held out for back injury management.

Neither offense offered much to admire before halftime. Brooklyn shot 38.5%, Indiana 32.4%. Porter put back a Traoré miss just before the buzzer to send the Nets into the break ahead 43-40.

Traoré had two points on 1-for-6 shooting. Sharpe had three. Both would give Brooklyn considerably more after halftime.

Porter started the third-quarter scoring with a four-point play. Moments later, Sharpe collected a Porter miss and found Traoré for a 3-pointer. After a Randle steal, the second-year guard added a floater, completing a 9-0 run that stretched Brooklyn’s lead to 52-40.

Traoré scored eight points in the third and 14 after halftime, making all four of his threes in the second half. The last two came when Brooklyn needed answers to Indiana’s perimeter shooting.

First, though, the Nets had to stop a run that trimmed their advantage to three.

Andrew Nembhard’s three made it 75-72 with 9:29 left. Fernández called timeout, and Randle and Sharpe returned to the floor. On Brooklyn’s next trip, Sharpe threw a dime and Randle buried a 25-footer.

Sharpe then grabbed two defensive rebounds and finished a cutting dunk. A pass to Porter for a layup followed. The center was helping Brooklyn rebuild its cushion a play at a time.

“We don’t win this game without him,” Fernández said.

Sharpe made five of seven shots and collected four offensive rebounds for his 20th career double-double. Moritz Wagner added 14 points and six rebounds, giving Brooklyn’s centers a combined 29 points and 19 boards. The Nets finished with a 14-5 advantage in second-chance points.

Randle and Traoré supplied the late shooting. After a Randle stepback restored a 10-point lead with 4:44 left, Indiana answered with a 3-pointer. Randle found Traoré for a triple. The Pacers hit another, and Randle found Traoré again.

Both Traoré baskets pushed the lead back to 10. Brooklyn kept making Indiana start its pursuit over.

“I thought Nolan had great moments, especially in that second half,” Fernández said.

Nembhard scored 15 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, and Pascal Siakam finished with 17. Indiana made six of eight 3s in the final period, a late defensive concern Fernández acknowledged. But the Nets made all 16 of their second-half free throws, while the Pacers missed nine foul shots overall.

The Nets improved to 1-5, with little time to enjoy the change in the standings. Monday brings the Knicks at Madison Square Garden and another test of whether Sunday’s habits can hold.

“Yeah, there’s not a lot of celebration,” Fernández said.