CLEVELAND — Ice water indeed.

D’Angelo Russell reminded everybody that All-Stars aren’t always great, but they’re great when they need to be.

With his Nets needing to staunch the bleeding before the break, Russell took over in the third overtime Wednesday night and carried them to a 148-139 win over the Cavaliers.

Set to play in his first All-Star Game this weekend, Russell overcame a slow start to pour in 24 of his team-high 36 points after regulation had ended. He personally outscored the Cavs 11-3 to open the third overtime, sending the Quicken Loans Arena crowd of 17,434 to the exits and the Nets to a must-have victory.

“This was a must-win. For what we’re playing for this was a must-win for us,” Russell said. “When we come back teams are going to be scraping to get those wins. For us to lose this one, losing four in a row would be tough.”

After struggling early, with just a dozen points on 5-of-18 shooting and seven turnovers through four quarters, Russell poured in 24 turnover-free points in the three overtime periods on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor.

Asked if he got the ball in Russell’s hands, coach Kenny Atkinson shook his head.

“No, he got the ball in his own hands. I called one play and it was for Joe, and he waved me off,” Atkinson said. “And he subsequently hit the shot, so no complaints here. He saw a mismatch and exploited it.”

Russell also got a huge assist from DeMarre Carroll, who hit a step-back 3 at the buzzer to force the third overtime. And once the Nets got there, Russell was historic — his 14 points tied for the third-most ever in an OT.

“That’s the sign of an All-Star, when you can struggle the whole game and come back like that,” Atkinson said. “His mental fortitude was huge.”

Russell hit his first five shots in the third extra session while the Cavs missed three of their first four and coughed up a turnover. His pull-up jumper put Brooklyn ahead 139-131. Even after Jordan Clarkson (game-high 42 points) stemmed the tide with a 3, Russell wouldn’t let his team lose.

The Nets (30-29) had dropped five of their previous six but broke the skid thanks to Russell, Carroll and Joe Harris (25 points).

“This was very big. Going into the break we needed a win,” Carroll said. “We’ve got to come back refreshed. We’ve got business to handle. We’re too close to home to just give it all back. With all these healthy bodies we’ll make a good run.”

Brooklyn trailed 77-67 in the third and were down 83-78 before Russell finally woke up. Just 1-for-11 with six turnovers up to that point, he hit back-to-back 3s for an 84-83 edge. The rest was tooth-and-nail.

The Nets rallied from a 103-98 hole, Russell tying it on a driving layup. They seemed set to win it in the first overtime before Colin Sexton (24 points) got to the rim to knot it with 2.8 seconds left and force a second OT.

Clarkson’s floater left the Nets trailing 126-125 with 39.5 seconds left, and after Allen missed a bank shot, David Nwaba’s offensive rebound and Clarkson’s free throw with 3.8 left them down three. But Carroll erased it.

On a play called for Harris or Allen Crabbe, Carroll knew he’d be left open. He faked, stepped back and drilled a 3 to save the Nets.

“When I was in the huddle I was looking around and said I’m fixing to take the shot,” Carroll said. “[Assistant coach Jordan Ott] told me before I even left the huddle, ‘If you get it, shoot it.’ … Coach drew up a great play, two of our best shooters. He knew they were going to go with them and I had a wide-open shot.

“I told D’Lo when we got in that third OT: ‘You’ve been playing around too much. You’re an All-Star now, so I’ve got to hold you to a higher caliber.’ You saw what he did. He took off and did his thing.”