It was late in the third quarter, and Brook Lopez grabbed an offensive rebound, went back up and scored for the Nets. On the ensuing possession, he hit a turnaround 10-footer, was fouled and converted the three-point play as the Nets refused to let Dallas pull away.
Anthony Morrow remembers thinking, “ ‘This is how it could have been all season.’ He had like 26 at that point. I was so open.”
Lopez, who had a couple cameos before the All-Star break, played with no limitations Tuesday in Dallas, where he unleashed a dominant 38-point masterpiece that finally gave as glimpse of, as Morrow said, what could have been all season. If he ever is to be a part of a deal for Dwight Howard, this was a performance the Magic could not ignore.
“I don’t know whatever happened with the Mavericks, but it took them a little too long to start double-teaming,” MarShon Brooks said. “When they [did], we started getting some easy shots. He’s going to demand a double team so it’s going to make life a lot easier for us.
“I think we’re going to be a force to reckon with.”
Finally, the offensive presence was in the post, not on the perimeter. Finally, Lopez was the force he was a season ago, a force the Nets sorely missed for the first 32 games because of a broken foot suffered in preseason.
“I’ve said it all season, when we get him back we become a different team and you a saw that a lot,” said Deron Williams, whose offensive burden — while still heavy — gets markedly less burdensome. “We could just throw the ball to him, watch him go to work. And when the double team comes, he knows how to find people. He’s not selfish, he knows how to play the game.”
That was the general consensus after the Nets downed the Mavericks, 93-92, with a victory that was credited as much to the defense as Lopez. The Nets forced the Mavs to miss 14 straight shots, including the first 13 of the fourth quarter and then came up with their biggest stop of the season, stoning Jason Kidd at the buzzer.
Coach Avery Johnson, who basically has played five-card draw with four cards all season, admitted he was “very curious” to see his Nets, even for a week, at full strength. They might not yet be at full strength. But they have Lopez back.
And it looks like they found a small forward. Gerald Green was exciting, athletic and, most of all, productive (10 points, 18 minutes) in his Nets debut. No Linsanity yet but figure the marketing guys will have “Green Peace” or “Green Goblin” night before his 10-day expires. And if they keep him, the Nets can be “Ever Green.”
So the Nets (11-25), in Boston tomorrow, are 8-10 on the road having beaten the Bulls, Knicks and Mavs in succession.
See what could have been?
“That’s tough. No question, I was excited to come in this year and play with these guys,’’ Lopez said. “Play with Deron, play with MarShon and make huge steps right from the beginning. But with myself out, these guys made steps on their own, huge improvements.
“I had to get back in and find my place. I didn’t want to be that monkey wrench coming back and mess up their flow.”
Hey, they were 9-23 through 32 games . Not much to mess up there.
fred.kerber@nypost.com