NBA: Dallas 96, Portland 76

DALLAS, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Dirk Nowitzki had his best performance of the season with 37 points Wednesday, propelling Dallas to a 96-76 rout of Portland.

The Dallas win ended a day of intrigue with the Mavericks attempting to pull off a multi-player deal that would have brought them Jason Kidd from the New Jersey Nets.

But one of the players the Mavericks were to have sent to New Jersey, Devean George, was in the starting lineup for the Portland game. Reports soon circulated that George, who has a no-trade clause in his contract, had refused to be a part of the proposed deal.

George missed all 11 of his field goal attempts, but Jason Terry added 24 points for Dallas, which ended a two-game losing streak.

Portland was led by Brandon Roy with 25 points. The Trail Blazers lost all four outings in a four-game road trip.

The Mavericks led by 11 at the half, then opened the third period with a 14-6 run and led by at least 13 points for the remainder of the game.