With a 112-108 win over the Los Angeles Clippers, the Brooklyn Nets ended their longest road trip of the season by going 5-0, with victories over the Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, and Golden State Warriors. Sunday night’s win, their sixth straight overall, gives the Nets a 20-12 record, which puts them just a half-game behind the Philadelphia 76ers for the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Making the Nets’ recent run of success more impressive is that they did it without forward Kevin Durant, who has missed the team’s last four games as he continues to recover from a strained hamstring.

But with All-Star guards James Harden and Kyrie Irving leading the way, and the team getting contributions from its supporting cast, Brooklyn appears to have turned a corner. This is a different group from the inconsistent Nets squad that suffered double-digit losses to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons weeks ago.

The Nets’ wins came against teams that are expected to contend for the title that they could face in the Finals, and they did it while answering questions about their defense and the chemistry of their two ball-dominant guards when sharing the court. After the win against the Clippers, Irving acknowledged that despite their winning streak, the team’s doubters and the questions would return when they struggle again.

“We came here with a plan to be able to build something here in Brooklyn,” Irving told ESPN’s Malika Andrews. “I think, for the time being, winning six in a row, all it does is keep the world silent for a little bit and then, you know, wait until we hit a bump in the road.”

The wins came in the regular season and against opponents that weren’t at full strength, as the Lakers didn’t have Anthony Davis and Dennis Schroder, while Paul George didn’t play for the Clippers in the final minutes on Sunday. But even so, the Nets recent run proves that if their defense continues to improve and they are able to seamlessly integrate their trio of All-Stars, they are capable of winning the title.

Since acquiring Harden from the Houston Rockets last month, the Nets’ three All-Stars have played just seven games together, making it difficult for head coach Steve Nash to build chemistry between them. But despite having limited time sharing the court so far, Brooklyn has already managed to defeat some of the league’s top contenders.

The playoffs, of course, are a different matter, and Durant, Irving, and Harden will need more time to develop their chemistry as they face tougher opposition. After all, regular-season success has not always translated into postseason success. But even if Harden’s time with the Rockets included several playoff heartbreaks, he now has Durant and Irving to help him, with both players winning championships with the Warriors and Cavaliers.

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The Nets’ defense has also been a subject of questions, especially earlier in the season, when they seemed to give up points as easily as they score. But in their run of victories, they have been able to hold the Pacers to 94 points, the Lakers to 98 points, and the Clippers to 108 points.

But with the team building chemistry and acquiring veteran defenders such as Andre Roberson and Iman Shumpert, their defense should improve over the course of the season, although it remains to be seen how it will hold up in the playoffs against teams with multiple All-Stars.

The playoffs are a time when teams are able to make adjustments, but that’s when the luxury of having three great scorers in Durant, Irving, and Harden will come in handy. There are still questions about the team’s defense, health, and chemistry, but there are times when it is simply the team with the most talent that wins it all, which this Nets team has in bunches.

It’s a small sample size, but their winning run proves that they have all the tools they need to win a championship for Brooklyn.