The game was not quite wrapped up, but the bow was nearly attached. Up 11 points with 10 and a half minutes to go in Washington on Monday, Nic Claxton swatted away a Will Barton layup. The ball and Kyrie Irving bounded to the sideline, where Irving leapt, grabbed the ball and heaved it over his head while tumbling into the stands.

During a season — and a Nets tenure — that has been haunted by questions about Irving’s beliefs, priorities and willingness, there is no questioning what he has brought to the team recently.

“He is extremely engaged,” head coach Jacque Vaughn said Wednesday.

The Nets’ uptick in play has coincided with the team getting healthier, more acquainted with Vaughn’s style and feasting upon lesser opponents. But the Nets rattling off four victories in a row and winning eight of their past nine games also has featured Irving hustling, diving, driving and returning to the star-level guard he is.

Since Irving returned from an eight-game ban after he shared a movie on social media that features anti-Semitic tropes, the Nets are 10-3 and Irving has appeared more comfortable with each game.

For a rare instance since Irving joined the team in 2019, the focus has been on the court — and Irving’s body has frequently been on the court, too.

“Jacque’s made it very clear that if you’re not playing hard enough, you’re going to hear about it,” Irving said after scoring 24 points on 17 shots in Monday’s win. “We’ve got guys on the bench that are willing to go out and do those things. It makes you take advantage of the time you’re out there.”

For the point guard, that has meant sacrificing his body and attacking at any opening. Through a hot, cold and bizarre first 15 games of his season — which were interrupted by the suspension that followed his initially refusing to state he held no anti-Semitic beliefs — Irving may have settled too often.

He averaged 8.4 3-point attempts through October and November and shot just 32.5 percent from deep. Since December has begun, he has curtailed the triples, averaging 7.2 3s in five games, while relying more on his dribble penetration.

Irving is averaging 11.2 drives per game this month, up from an average of 9.6 in October and November. On Monday, one of the most talented ball-handlers ever put on a clinic of stepbacks, hesitations, finger-rolls and creating space where none existed.

“SKILLZ!” Nets owner Joe Tsai wrote in a tweet that contained a highlight of an Irving up-and-under — a message from the same account that aired disappointment with Irving in late October.

Irving has been difficult to rely upon for the duration of his time in Brooklyn, but he has begun to demonstrate again how potent the Nets can be if he stays on the court with a team that jells.

“Missing games, getting incorporated back into the group, so it hasn’t been seamless as far as his transition and how he got back in the mix,” Vaughn said over Zoom on Wednesday, when the Nets prepared for Friday’s game in Toronto. “But since he’s been with us full time, he’s been pretty consistent.”

Irving credited the Nets’ hot streak — they entered NBA action Wednesday as the Eastern Conference’s fourth seed — with the entire team “doing all the little things that make a game swing sometimes.” That has been a consistent message from Vaughn, who will not tolerate a lack of hustle or missed box-outs.

The 30-year-old will be a free agent at season’s end, is playing for a contract and is playing for what could be his last run together with Kevin Durant.

Recently, he has been playing as if he fully understands the stakes.

“Let’s just go win ballgames, that’s really what the attitude is,” said Irving, who is averaging 25.3 points per game. “No more excuses, no more distractions, no more just throwing in these surprise injuries.

“We just want everybody to be healthy and everybody to have fun.”