ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg was back in the starting lineup for Dallas against the Orlando Magic on Thursday night after missing eight games with a foot injury. He had a mixed return to action.
The No. 1 pick in last year's NBA draft was sidelined with a left mid-foot sprain and had last played at Phoenix on Feb. 10. But, the Mavericks didn't hesitate to go directly to their rookie star in crunch time.
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Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) grimaces as he collides with Orlando Magic forward Noah Penda, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, March 5, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg, center, shoots over Orlando Magic center Wendell Carter Jr., left, and guard Jalen Suggs during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, March 5, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg, left, blocks a shot by Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, March 5, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) drives past Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, March 5, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Dallas put the ball in Flagg’s hands at the end of a game and the 19-year-old came through with a big three-point play with 37.3 seconds left that gave the Mavericks a four-point lead.
But, it wasn’t quite enough this time.
Flagg missed a mid-range jump shot in the final seconds and the Mavericks lost 115-114 to Orlando. It was their 15th loss in 17 games.
But, nobody was disappointed.
“Obviously we’ve been in a lot of those situations throughout the season, (and we) haven’t won a ton of them, but it’s about learning experiences for us right now,” Flagg said. “We’ve got to learn, we’ve got to get better. We’re going to be in a ton of these situations moving forward into next year. I’m pretty comfortable at this point.”
Flagg scored 18 points on 7-for-22 shooting in 26 minutes and finished with five rebounds, six assists and four blocks, including three in the fourth quarter after he had taken a couple of hard fouls.
“He had some incredible blocks there,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “I think he got a little upset when he got hit after the whistle. But I thought his energy picked up on the defensive end and he got us going.”
The 6-foot-9 Flagg was on a record-setting roll when he got injured, having put up consecutive games of 49, 34, 36 and 32 points. He is the youngest NBA player to score 45 points, and he joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kelly Tripucka as the only rookies to post 49-point games with 65% shooting.
“Coop is going to be a superstar in this league,” said Klay Thompson, who scored 24 points for the Mavericks. “It’s been a pleasure to be his teammate and I’ll be excited to tell future generations that I got to play with him in his rookie season.”
The final 20 games of Flagg’s rookie season, starting Friday night in Boston, will be chalked up to a learning experience. He has missed a total of 12 of the Mavericks’ 62 games.
“Obviously the hardest part is not playing. I love to compete, I love to play basketball so having that taken away from me for a while is tough,” he said. “But it’s a good way for me to learn and get perspective, watch from a different angle. I think I learned a lot in the last couple of weeks, but I was definitely ready to get back out there and compete.”
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Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) grimaces as he collides with Orlando Magic forward Noah Penda, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, March 5, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg, center, shoots over Orlando Magic center Wendell Carter Jr., left, and guard Jalen Suggs during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, March 5, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg, left, blocks a shot by Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, March 5, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) drives past Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, March 5, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
HAVANA (AP) — Swaths of Cuba remained without power on Thursday nearly a day after a huge blackout hit the western part of the island in the latest outage blamed on a fragile electric grid and a lack of fuel.
Crews worked overnight to repair a broken boiler at one of Cuba’s largest thermoelectric plants, but officials have warned that it could take three to four days for power to be fully restored.
State media reported that nearly 660,000 customers in Havana, or 77%, had power, as well as 43 hospitals and 10 water supply stations. However, officials warned of low power generation and said some circuits that crews had reconnected were kicked offline again.
Millions still remained without power, including Miguel Leyva, 65, who lives with his mother and brother, both of whom are ill.
“I have no words to describe what I’m going through: the heat, the mosquitoes and no electricity. The food could spoil,” he said. "I'm aware of all the problems that exist, but listen, it’s been more than 24 hours now.”
Cuba’s Ministry of Energy and Mines wrote on X that the electrical system is operating “in a limited capacity, prioritizing basic services, primarily health and water supply.”
State media reported that two power plants are offline because of a lack of petroleum.
Government officials said Wednesday afternoon that crews have located the crack in the boiler drum that led to the outage. They said it will take 12 hours to cool that area so crews can enter the furnace and start repairing it. Work already is underway to fix a pipe that also is damaged, officials added.
Sonia Vázquez, 61, said the blackout didn't stop her from selling coffee to passersby daily, saying she prepared it with gas at 5 a.m. under a rechargeable lamp.
“I didn't sleep last night. Too many mosquitoes,” said Vázquez.
Meanwhile, 57-year-old cafe owner José Ignacio Dorta, said that some of his frozen food has spoiled.
“We’ve looked for ways to prevent further spoilage. We’re working on it. We hope nothing else will spoil,” he said.
Cuba has long struggled with an aging electric grid and intermittent fuel supplies, but the crisis has deepened in recent months.
Key oil shipments from Venezuela were halted after the United States attacked the South American country in early January. Then later that month, U.S. President Donald Trump warned that he would impose tariffs on any country that sells or supplies oil to Cuba.
On Thursday, Trump suggested a deal may be imminent with Cuba but that he’s focusing on Iran in the meantime.
Referring to a co-owner of Inter Miami being originally from Cuba, Trump said, “You’re gonna go back" and added, “That’s going to be a great day, right?”
Without providing details, Trump said, “We’re going to celebrate that separately. I just want to wait a couple of weeks. I want him to wait a couple of weeks. But we’ll be together again soon, I suspect, celebrating what’s going on in Cuba.”
He added of the island’s government, “They want to make a deal so badly. You have no idea."
Then, referring to Marco Rubio, the president said the secretary of state wants to work on Cuba but is cautious to do so during the war in Iran.
“You’re next one’s going to be -- we want to do that special – Cuba,” Trump said. “He’s waiting. But he says, “Let’s get this one finished first.’ We could do them all at the same time. But bad things happen. If you watch countries over the years, you do them all too fast, bad things happen.”
Trump didn’t clarify his meaning, but the comments followed his from last week, when he raised that the prospect of a “friendly takeover” of Cuba might be possible without elaborating.
Wednesday’s outage is the second one to hit western Cuba in three months. The outage in early December lasted nearly 12 hours.
Some of Cuba's thermoelectric plants have been operating for more than three decades and receive little maintenance because of high costs. U.S. sanctions also have prevented the government from buying new equipment and specialized parts, officials say.
Associated Press reporters Dánica Coto in José, Costa Rica and Will Weissert in Washington, D.C. contributed.
A vendor speaks with customers in the doorway of his building in Havana, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A man prepares caldosa, a traditional soup, during a birthday celebration on the street in Havana, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A baker hawks his baked goods through the streets of Havana, Cuba, Thursday, March 5, 2026, during a blackout. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Hairdressers style the hair of their clients in the open air during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A woman walks with a baby in her arms past people lined up to buy bread during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Women walk down the street during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A man wearing a rosary looks at his phone during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Clouds gather above Havana during a blackout, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A vehicle drives down a street during a blackout in Havana, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
People cross a street during a blackout in Havana, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
People cross a street during a blackout in Havana, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
