Surreal day ends with rout of Portland

Wednesday was strange on many counts. The Internet and airwaves were jammed with speculation of deals on the table and off. Avery Johnson addressed the matter with Dallas-area media and within the locker room before facing Portland.

It all led to a surreal vibe in American Airlines Center. Luckily, the Mavericks had a game to return to some level of normalcy. Beating the Trailblazers 96-76 to snap a two-game skid capped a day of an awful lot of talk and no action.

“It was definitely a weird day,” Dirk Nowitzki said. “Nobody really knows what is going on, so I think what we had to do was try to focus on the game as much as we can.”

Nowitzki and Jason Terry, the Mavs’ top two healthy scorers, were aggressive from the start against the young and athletic Blazers. Dallas needed the boost with Josh Howard, Devin Harris and Jerry Stackhouse in street clothes.

Nowitzki scored a season-high 37, with 20 coming in the first half, and grabbed 12 rebounds for his 17th double-double. He cooled off a bit in the third quarter, but his shot was falling in the first half as the Mavs built a 17-point lead at one point. Terry, in a slump recently, responded with 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting.

Erick Dampier’s return from an ankle injury was also a positive. He tallied his third double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, and teamed with Gana Diop (four points, six boards and two blocks) to patrol the middle. JJ Barea, the starting point guard the previous five games, scored 11 off the bench.

The Mavs clicked at a much higher rate offensively after two frustrating nights on the East Coast earlier this week. They shot nearly 50 percent in the first half, never trailed and piled up 21 fastbreak points.

“I am really proud of the guys how they responded to this weird day and we don’t know what is going on forward here, but we have a big game tomorrow and we have to do more of the same tomorrow,” Nowitzki said. “We are all professionals here. We have a job to do and we understand that. We just said no matter what’s going to happen, whoever dresses out for this organization is going to give it their all and play hard.”

The majority of Johnson’s pregame media session was dominated by reports of a possible trade with New Jersey for Jason Kidd. News of the proposed multi-player deal had reporters scrambling to get comments from owner Mark Cuban and president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson.

“We’ve been hearing a lot of stuff for a while now,” Johnson said. “Mark hasn’t informed me or Donnie that a trade has been completed.”

Devean George responded to reports after the game that he blocked the trade by utilizing a league rule requiring his consent. George spent most of the day discussing the matter with his agent.

“It was a distraction all day,” George said. “I was on the phone from 11 a.m. until tip-off and I don’t know what I am doing. Whether I am coming, going, staying, trying to pack stuff up at home, but nothing has happened yet. It is all coming down on me and my little salary.”

George understands that many are portraying him as the deal breaker. He reiterated, though, that he just wants time to study the situation before deciding his future. George has signed free-agent deals with Dallas the last two offseasons.

“If I am the bad guy, people who know me know that I am not like that, but it is what it is,” he said. “I just want to look over things and have it explained to me.”

The trade deadline is Feb. 21. The Mavs break for All-Star weekend after Thursday night’s game at Phoenix. Johnson discussed the swirling rumors with his team before the game.

“We talked and I told them we need to go out and play no matter what you’re hearing,” he said.