DALLAS (AP) — Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford left Monday night’s home game against the Sacramento Kings early in the second quarter with a sprained right knee.
Gafford and Kings guard Malik Monk made knee-to-knee contact near center court as Sacramento brought the ball upcourt. Gafford went down immediately, holding his right knee, and had to be helped to the locker room.
The Mavericks were already playing without power forwards Anthony Davis (groin) and P.J. Washington (sprained ankle) and centers Dereck Lively II (ankle stress fracture) and Dwight Powell (strained hip).
Davis was hurt in his Mavericks debut Saturday following the seismic trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 1. Coach Jason Kidd said before the game the 10-time All-Star’s injury is still being evaluated. Davis is out at least through the All-Star break.
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Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford (21) is assisted off the court by team staff after suffering an unknown injury in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Sacramento Kings in Dallas, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford grabs his knee after suffering an unknown injury in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Sacramento Kings in Dallas, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday fired off another warning to the government of Cuba as the close ally of Venezuela braces for potential widespread unrest after Nicolás Maduro was deposed as Venezuela's leader.
Cuba, a major beneficiary of Venezuelan oil, has now been cut off from those shipments as U.S. forces continue to seize tankers in an effort to control the production, refining and global distribution of the country's oil products.
Trump said on social media that Cuba long lived off Venezuelan oil and money and had offered security in return, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!”
“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!” Trump said in the post as he spent the weekend at his home in southern Florida. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not explain what kind of deal.
The Cuban government said 32 of its military personnel were killed during the American operation last weekend that captured Maduro. The personnel from Cuba’s two main security agencies were in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, as part of an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.
“Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” Trump said Sunday. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”
Trump also responded to another account’s social media post predicting that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba: “Sounds good to me!” Trump said.
Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat by Venezuela. Long before Maduro's capture, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.
Trump has said previously that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, would slide further with the ouster of Maduro.
“It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the count.”
A person watches the oil tanker Ocean Mariner, Monrovia, arrive to the bay in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
President Donald Trump attends a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
