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BOSTON (AP) — Nathan Eovaldi struck out seven over six strong innings, Texas had 16 hits in their first game since adding Bret Boone as a hitting coach and the Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox 6-1 on Tuesday night.

Eovaldi allowed just one run on five hits in rainy conditions that pushed back the start.

The Rangers finished just two hits shy of their season high, recorded one week before in a 15-2 rout of the Athletics.

Texas won its second straight — the first consecutive victories since sweeping three games against the Angels from April 15-17.

Josh Jung was the only batter in the lineup without a hit for Texas, which was playing its first game since firing offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker and adding Boone, a former big league All-Star with one of baseball’s deepest pedigrees, to the coaching staff.

Something certainly sparked the Rangers, who batted around during a five-run fourth inning and provided Eovaldi (3-2) with a surplus of offensive support. Boston didn’t score until Kristian Campbell’s sixth-inning single drove in Alex Bregman, whose double to right was just their fourth hit.

Lucas Giolito (0-1) allowed 10 hits and six runs over 3 2/3 innings for Boston’s fifth loss in six games.

Boston had a pair of hits in the fifth, which ended when Josh Smith caught a line drive headed for right field but didn’t know it. Smith spun around a full 360 degrees looking for the ball, which was in his mitt.
Key moment

Corey Seager and Joc Pederson opened the fourth with back-to-back ground-rule doubles, sparking a five-run rally as the Rangers batted around with seven hits in the inning.
Key stat

Texas’ seven hits in the fourth was one more than the Rangers had tallied in any inning this season.
Up next

RHP Tyler Mahle (3-1, 1.19 ERA) faces Boston righty Tanner Houck (0-2, 6.38) Wednesday night in the second of three games in the series.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez has a strained muscle at the top of his right hand, a diagnosis that instills optimism he won’t have a prolonged stay on the injured list.

The three-time All-Star went on the 10-day injured list Monday, retroactive to Saturday, and returned to Houston for an MRI that revealed the muscle strain.

“We look at it as good news,” Astros manager Joe Espada said before their Wednesday afternoon game with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Espada expressed hope that Alvarez wouldn’t have to stay on the injured list longer than the required 10 days. He also said the hand issue may have played a role in Alvarez’s slow start.

Alvarez, 27, is hitting .210 with a .306 on-base percentage, three homers and 18 RBIs in 29 games this season. He batted .308 with a .392 on-base percentage, 35 homers and 86 RBIs in 147 games last year while ranking ninth in the AL Most Valuable Player balloting.

He has posted an OPS of at least .959 and has finished 13th or higher in the MVP voting each of the last three seasons.

“Once he heals, once he gets back, I think we’ll see a more aggressive at bat and be not as cautious,” Espada said. “I think it had something to do with it, yes.”

His potential return could go a long way toward boosting an Astros lineup that hasn’t been as productive as usual this season. The Astros entered Wednesday’s action ranked 21st in the majors in runs (136) and 23rd in OPS (.676). Houston has ranked 11th or better in both those categories each of the last four seasons.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Framber Valdez pitched seven strong innings and Jeremy Peña homered and drove in four runs as the Houston Astros defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 9-1 on Wednesday.

Houston earned just its second victory in seven games to snap Milwaukee’s three-game winning streak and leave both teams with .500 records. The Brewers were attempting to sweep a series from the Astros for the first time since 2012.

The Astros led 3-1 before Peña broke the game open by delivering a three-run homer to left off reliever Elvin Rodriguez with two outs in the sixth inning.

Valdez (2-4) struck out seven while allowing three hits, two walks and one run to earn his first win since the Astros’ March 27 season opener. He threw a season-high 101 pitches.

Milwaukee’s only run off Valdez came on Eric Haase’s fifth-inning homer, a 425-foot drive to center.

The Astros took a 1-0 lead off Quinn Priester (1-1) in the second inning as Jake Meyers hit a two-out single and scored on Zach Dezenzo’s double.

The Brewers have lost all 13 games this season in which their opponent scored first.

Five-time All-Star closer Josh Hader worked the ninth while pitching in Milwaukee for the first time since the Brewers traded him in 2022.
Key moment

The Astros led 1-0 and had runners on third and second with one out in the fifth when Peña hit a bouncer to third. The throw home beat Dezenzo to the plate. Home plate umpire Chris Conroy initially ruled Dezenzo out, but the Astros challenged the call and replays showed the runner slid home ahead of Haase’s tag.
Key stat

Valdez has now pitched at least seven innings an MLB-leading 57 times since 2020.
Up next

The Astros host the Cincinnati Reds on Friday. Scheduled pitchers are right-hander Hunter Brown (5-1, 1.67) for the Astros and right-hander Nick Martinez (1-3, 4.19) for the Reds.

The Brewers visit the Tampa Bay Ray on Friday. Left-hander José Quintana (4-1, 2.83) will pitch for the Brewers.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers have run out patience with wide receiver George Pickens, agreeing Wednesday on a trade that sends the talented but mercurial 24-year-old to the Dallas Cowboys.

The Steelers will get a third-round pick in the 2026 draft and a fifth-rounder in 2027. The Cowboys get a sixth-round choice in two years.

The trade was first reported by ESPN.

Pickens is about to enter the final year of the rookie deal he signed in 2022 when the Steelers took the former Georgia star in the second round. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Pickens has spent his first three seasons in the NFL being equal parts productive and petulant, mixing highlight-reel catches with bouts of immaturity along the way.

Pickens joins a Cowboys offense that could use another downfield threat to pair with star CeeDee Lamb. Dallas’ second-leading pass catcher behind Lamb last year was tight end Jake Ferguson, with Jalen Tolbert’s modest 49 receptions a distant third.

Dallas didn’t address the need for a No. 2 receiver in the draft, with first-year coach Brian Schottenheimer saying he liked the youth that was already on the roster. Owner and general manager Jerry Jones made reference before the draft to “substantive” trades the Cowboys were pursuing. This qualifies as one.

The Steelers, particularly head coach Mike Tomlin, frequently backed Pickens as he endured what the team frequently described as a version of growing pains while he adjusted to life in the NFL.

Pickens has been one of the most dynamic receivers in the league when he’s on the field and engaged, which is not always a given. Pickens led the league by averaging 18.1 yards per catch in 2023 and has 174 receptions for 2,841 yards and 12 scores in 48 games.

Yet he’s also consistently struggled to keep his emotions in check. Last season alone he twice ended games by getting into dust-ups with opposing defensive backs, first when he grabbed Dallas’ Jourdan Lewis by the facemask and then when he tussled with Cleveland’s Greg Newsome II rather than try to get in position for a last-second Hail Mary.

That doesn’t include a fine for using an expletive on his eye black against the Cowboys, a rule he said he was unaware of at the time. Pickens also drew widespread criticism in 2023 for what could generously be described as inattentive downfield blocking for his teammates.

Considering his volatility, the Steelers didn’t seem interested in signing Pickens to a contract extension and he became expendable when they traded for two-time Pro Bowler DK Metcalf in March, whom they promptly signed to a five-year contract.

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AP Pro Football Writer Schuyler Dixon in Dallas contributed to this report.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Road teams and buzzer-beaters remain the story of this year’s NBA playoffs.

And now, there’s a giant injury concern for Golden State surrounding Stephen Curry’s hamstring as well.

Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers became the third road team in a two-day span to erase a big deficit, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 120-119 after being down by 20 points. For the Pacers, it was another rally from seven points down in the final minute, just like the one they pulled off to oust Milwaukee in Game 5 of their first-round series. And for Haliburton, it was another game-winner — this time, a 3-pointer — with about a second left.

Golden State went into Minnesota and won Game 1 of that Western Conference series 99-88. The Warriors are now bracing for Curry — who left in the second quarter Tuesday night — to miss some time with a hamstring issue. He will be further examined on Wednesday.

Wednesday’s slate has a pair of Game 2s: New York at Boston and Denver at Oklahoma City, the road teams both looking for 2-0 leads in those series.
Wednesday’s national TV schedule

All times Eastern

7 p.m. — New York at Boston (TNT)

9:30 p.m. — Denver at Oklahoma City (TNT)
Thursday’s national TV schedule

All times Eastern

8:30 p.m. — Golden State at Minnesota (TNT)
Friday’s national TV schedule

All times Eastern

7:30 p.m. — Cleveland at Indiana (ESPN)

10 p.m. — Oklahoma City at Denver (ESPN)
Saturday’s national TV schedule

All times Eastern

3:30 p.m. — Boston at New York (ABC)

8:30 p.m. — Minnesota at Golden State (ABC)
Betting odds

Oklahoma City (+170) is favored to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed closely by Boston (+200).

Cleveland’s odds took a big hit after it fell into a 2-0 series hole against Indiana. The Cavaliers are now at +1000, followed by Denver (+1300), Minnesota (+1400), Golden State (+1500), Indiana (+1600) and New York (+2800).

This is the closest the odds have been from lowest to highest so far in these playoffs. And Denver’s odds, about two weeks ago, were around 125-1; backers who took advantage of that must be thrilled right about now.
Award season

On Monday, Kenny Atkinson of the Cleveland Cavaliers was announced as the NBA coach of the year. It was a sweep for Atkinson; he already had been announced as the winner of the award given out by the coaches’ association.

On Tuesday, Oklahoma City’s Sam Presti won executive of the year. And on Wednesday, Boston’s Jrue Holiday won the NBA’s social justice award — less than a week after he won the sportsmanship award for the second time in his career.

Other awards so far:

— Boston’s Jrue Holiday won the sportsmanship award.

— Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels won most improved player.

— San Antonio’s Stephon Castle won rookie of the year.

— Golden State’s Stephen Curry won the Twyman-Stokes teammate of the year award.

— Golden State’s Draymond Green won the hustle award.

— Cleveland’s Evan Mobley won defensive player of the year.

— New York’s Jalen Brunson won clutch player of the year.

— Boston’s Payton Pritchard won sixth man of the year.

The league has not announced when MVP, as well as the All-NBA, All-Rookie and All-Defensive teams, will be revealed.
Scoring leaders

The highest-scoring games by players so far in this year’s playoffs:

48 — Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland vs. Indiana, May 6

43 — Jamal Murray, Denver vs. LA Clippers, April 29

43 — Anthony Edwards, Minnesota vs. LA Lakers, April 27

42 — Nikola Jokic, Denver at Oklahoma City, May 5

40 — Jalen Brunson, New York at Detroit, May 1

39 — Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers at Denver, April 21

38 — Luka Doncic, LA Lakers at Minnesota, April 27

38 — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City at Memphis, April 26

38 — LeBron James, LA Lakers at Minnesota, April 25

38 — Jalen Green, Houston vs. Golden State, April 23
Key upcoming events

May 12 — Draft lottery, Chicago.

May 18 or 20 — Game 1, Western Conference finals.

May 19 or 21 — Game 1, Eastern Conference finals.

June 2 — Last possible date for Game 7 of Eastern Conference finals.

June 3 — Last possible date for Game 7 of the Western Conference finals.

June 5 — Game 1, NBA Finals. (Other games: June 8, June 11, June 13, June 16, June 19 and Game 7, if necessary, will be June 22.)

June 25 — NBA draft, first round.

June 26 — NBA draft, second round.
Stories of note

— Preview of Wednesday’s games: Knicks-Celtics, Nuggets-Thunder.

— New Suns GM Brian Gregory ready to get started.

— Gregg Popovich’s new job: ‘El Jefe’

— Spurs coach Gregg Popovich steps down.

— Mitch Johnson takes over for Pop in San Antonio.

— Appreciation: Gregg Popovich changed the NBA.

— Grizzlies promote Iisalo to head coach, remove interim tag.

— A look inside the numbers of this season, headed into the playoffs
Comeback season

There have been four wins by teams that trailed by 20 points or more so far in these playoffs. That’s the most in any postseason during the play-by-play era, which started with the 1997 playoffs.

The biggest deficits that were successfully overcome:

29 — Oklahoma City at Memphis, April 24 (Thunder won 114-108)

20 — Indiana vs. Milwaukee, April 29 (Pacers won 119-118)

20 — New York at Boston, May 5 (Knicks won 108-105)

20 — Indiana at Cleveland, May 6 (Pacers won 120-119)
Stats of the day

— Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell had the ninth playoff game with at least 30 field goal attempts and 20 free throw attempts. He was the first to do that since Carmelo Anthony in 2013. The last four players to record such a game (Mitchell, Anthony, Michael Jordan in 1986 and Wilt Chamberlain in 1966) all did so in losing efforts.

— Minnesota was 0 for 15 on 3-pointers in the first half of its game with Golden State on Tuesday. In the play-by-play era, that’s the worst first half performance from beyond the arc by any team in any playoff game.

— Road teams went 2-0 on Sunday, 2-0 on Monday and 2-0 on Tuesday. And that’s not all: all were underdogs, too. Since May 1, favorites, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, are 2-8, both outright and against the spread.

— Neither team shot 40% in Tuesday’s Golden State-Minnesota game (Warriors .391, Timberwolves .395). It was the first playoff game in exactly two years where both teams shot that poorly; Miami (.389) defeated New York (.341) on May 6, 2023.
Quote of the day

“I’ll take that fine, gladly.” — Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton, who expects to be fined for his celebration after hitting a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left to beat Cleveland on Tuesday night.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

Jrue Holiday’s commitment to off-court work continues to be noticed and appreciated within the NBA.

Holiday, the Boston Celtics’ guard, was revealed Wednesday as the recipient of the league’s Social Justice Champion award for this season. The announcement came less than a week after Holiday won the league’s sportsmanship award for the second time his career.

The NBA will donate $100,000 to the Jrue and Lauren Holiday Social Impact Fund and he will receive the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Trophy. Holiday was selected from a group of finalists that also included Miami’s Bam Adebayo, San Antonio’s Harrison Barnes, Toronto’s Chris Boucher and New Orleans’ CJ McCollum.

The award, the NBA said, pays tribute to those who are “pursuing social justice and advancing Abdul-Jabbar’s life mission to engage, empower and drive equality for individuals and groups who have been historically disadvantaged.”

The fund started by Holiday and his wife Lauren, commonly called the JLH Fund, has distributed over $5.3 million in grants and delivered more than 400 hours of coaching and support to nearly 200 businesses across the U.S. It was founded five years ago after Holiday, when he decided to play in the bubble during the 2019-20 season, pledged the $5 million that remained on his salary that season to help businesses and communities affected by systemic racism and economic injustice.

“Since entering the league, Jrue Holiday has dedicated himself to helping others in their times of greatest need and pursuing a more just society for all,” NBA deputy commissioner and chief operating officer Mark Tatum said. “The selflessness that defines his game is even more evident in the work he and his wife Lauren do off the floor to create more opportunities for a generation of youth who might have otherwise been overlooked.”

The JLH Fund has expanded its scope since, with some of its recent efforts including helping those affected by the wildfires in the Los Angeles area earlier this year, providing grant capital to businesses and helping entrepreneurs and others have access to coaching from schools like MIT, Harvard and Suffolk University.

The award is decided upon by a panel that includes Tatum, Abdul-Jabbar, human rights activist Richard Lapchick, National Urban League President and CEO Marc Morial, UnidosUS President and CEO Janet Murguía, and youth representative JJ Mandaquit from the Jr. NBA and Jr. WNBA Court of Leaders.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Golden State Warriors are planning to play without Stephen Curry for at least the next three games of their second-round series against Minnesota, after an MRI exam on Wednesday confirmed a mild strain of the star guard’s left hamstring.

The Warriors said Curry would be sidelined at least a week after the injury Tuesday night forced him out early in second quarter of Game 1, which they went on to win 99-88. He had 13 points in 13 minutes to help Golden State build a comfortable lead and take home-court advantage away from the Timberwolves.

Game 2 is in Minneapolis on Thursday, before the series moves west to San Francisco for Game 3 on Saturday and Game 4 on Monday. The earliest return for Curry appears to be Game 5 on May 14, which is conveniently followed by three straight off days before Game 6 on May 18.

Curry missed multiple games because of injuries during the 2016 and 2018 playoffs, absences the Warriors endured on their way to the NBA Finals. They lost to Cleveland in seven games for the 2016 championship, and they swept the Cavaliers in 2018 for a third title in four years.

This Golden State roster hardly stacks up to those predecessors, however, when Curry and Draymond Green were much younger and other standouts like Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala were integral to their success. In 2018, they had Kevin Durant, too.

For now, the Warriors were feeling good about the all-hands-on-deck effort led by Jimmy Butler, Buddy Hield and Green in Game 1, in which coach Steve Kerr played 12 different players.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

There was that natural inclination for Dallas Stars coach Pete DeBoer to start paying more attention to St. Louis while watching the game that would determine who his team would play next in the NHL playoffs. But he never really started preparing for the Blues, even as they had a multigoal lead over Winnipeg much of that game.

“That would have been a mistake,” DeBoer said Tuesday. “Just like, you know, whoever was watching our game with Colorado.”

Dallas will instead play the top-seeded Jets after both teams had epic Game 7 rallies at home by overcoming two-goal deficits the third period. Now the teams that finished 1-2 in the Central Division, and have never met in the postseason before, open the second round Wednesday night in Canada.

Winnipeg scored twice in the final 1:56 of regulation against St Louis, tying the game with 1.6 seconds left and winning 4-3 when Adam Lowry scored 16:10 into the second overtime late Sunday night.

“I think we can ride the momentum from the last series win, but at the same time, reset and get ready for a new challenge with Dallas,” Jets defenseman Dylan Samberg said.

The Stars trailed Colorado 2-0 in the third period, but rode Mikko Rantanen’s four-point period that included a hat trick against his former team to win 4-2. He had 11 points (five goals, six assists) in the last three games of that series.

“When your life flashes before your eyes like it did the last 10 minutes of that Game 7 the other night, when you get that close to your season ending, I think you appreciate every day you can come to work,” DeBoer said. “Those are always emotional wins, and we both had them. It’s how do you recover from that quickly and get reengaged in the next series. I’m sure both teams are talking about that.”
The goalies

Two-time Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck, one of three finalists to win the top goalie award again this season, has been at his best against the Stars.

Winnipeg was 3-1 this season against Dallas, while Hellebuyck had a .965 save percentage, stopping 109 of 113 shots for a 1.01 goals against average. His Game 7 win came after the Jets failed to get past the first round the last two seasons after not even making the playoffs in 2022. He gave up 16 goals in three road games against the Blues, but only 10 in four at home.

“At this point, the pressure has kind of fallen off. The weight of the world is off my shoulders. And that had nothing to do with anyone else. It’s just the mental grind of that series,” Hellebuyck said Tuesday. “That being said, in that moment it was a second chance for me. I just had to go and play my game and do what I do best.”

Hellebuyck is 22-30 in his 52 career playoff games, with a .902 save percentage and 2.98 GAA.

Jake Oettinger, the 26-year-old Stars goalie who backed up Hellebuyck for Team USA in the 4 Nations tournament this year, has a better playoff record at 27-25. He has a .915 save percentage and 2.52 GAA in 54 playoff games.

“You always want to play against the best goalies in the world,” Oettinger said. “This is going to be a great series. Goals aren’t going to be easy to come by for us.”
Game 1 struggles

The Stars have lost eight consecutive series openers in the NHL playoffs since 2022, including all seven under DeBoer after a 5-1 loss in Game 1 to the Avs.

“Well, we’re going on the road,” DeBoer said when asked if there was anything he could do to try to change that trend. “Other than that, not really. There’s only so much you can do. I like our preparation. The way we prepare for a Game 7 is the same way we prepare for a Game 1.”

Six of Dallas’ seven Game 1s under DeBoer have been at home. So have all three Game 7s, like Saturday against the Avs that made DeBoer 9-0 — the most wins by any NHL coach or player in such games.
Hurting key players

Top centers and top defensemen are hurting for both teams.

Winnipeg’s center Mark Schiefele didn’t play the last two games of the first round after exiting early in Game 5 with an undisclosed injury. Defenseman Josh Morrissey then got hurt two minutes into Game 7.

Jets coach Scott Arniel said Tuesday that both would be game-time decisions.

Dallas has been without top goal scorer Jason Robertson, who got hurt in the regular-season finale, and defenseman Miro Heiskanen since late January. Both have lower-body injuries.

Robertson skated with a line in practice Tuesday, and DeBoer said his availability would depend on how he feels Wednesday. Heiskanen could return later in the series.
Bones connection

Rick Bowness was on an NHL bench as a head coach or an assistant for a record 2,726 regular-season games over 38 seasons. The last two teams he coached were the Stars (2019-22) and the Jets (2022-24), making him the predecessor to DeBoer and Arniel.

Bowness, now 70, was 89-62-25 in Dallas and took the Stars to the Stanley Cup Final in the Canadian bubble during the pandemic-impacted 2020 playoffs. He was 98-57-9 and made the playoffs each of the past two seasons in Winnipeg before retiring.

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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

After a mammoth undertaking of buying an NHL team, moving players, coaches and a full staff more than 600 miles and getting it all together in a manner of months before the puck dropped on a new season, it is perhaps a fitting identity that owners Ryan and Ashley Smith chose after rounds and rounds of fan voting.

They unveiled Utah Mammoth as the franchise’s permanent, full-time name Wednesday, with a profiled logo of the ice age creature featuring nods to the shape of the state, its mountain range and the same light blue, black and white color scheme that quickly became synonymous with the team in its first season in Salt Lake City.

“Our fans made it very easy for us,” Ryan Smith said at a news conference at Delta Center celebrating the branding effort’s competition after more than 850,000 votes were cast over the past 13 months. “Every single night we were doing the voting, Mammoth just started running away with it. … And for us, it was like, ‘That’s it.’”

Mammoth replaces the 2024-25 placeholder name Utah Hockey Club, which was also one of the three finalists. Yeti was taken out of consideration when the cooler company bearing that name could not come to a copyright agreement with Utah ownership, and Wasatch — a reference to the state’s mountain range — was quickly replaced as an option by Outlaws.

The Mammoth are maintaining the road jerseys with UTAH diagonally down the front. The logo, along with mountains and a hidden “M” and more of what Smith called “Easter eggs,” also has a curved tusk that forms a “U.”

Mammoth fossils have been found throughout Utah, including a complete skeleton in Huntington Canyon in 1988. The team said “Tusks Up” will be its rallying cry.

“We uncovered a little bit of the mammoth history in this state,” Smith said. “It was daunting — of how close and tied and whether it was Lake Bonneville or Fairview, Utah, or Lake Powell and the size of the mammoth and how fast they go, it became like this really cool thing.”

Utah has an exciting summer ahead holding the fourth pick in the draft, the first phase of arena renovations taking place and more than $20 million in salary cap space for general manager Bill Armstrong to make a splash in free agency and trades. With young talent like captain Clayton Keller, budding star forward Logan Cooley, two-time Stanley Cup champion Mikhail Sergachev and emerging goaltender Karel Vejmelka, the Mammoth could contend for a playoff spot as soon as next season.

Sitting next to Commissioner Gary Bettman, Ashley Smith said the goal was to bring him back with more to celebrate.

“Next time, Stanley Cup,” she told Bettman, who responded, “It would be my pleasure.” Bettman, who turns 73 in July, added, “When you win the Stanley Cup, I hope I’m still doing this to present it.”

Hockey in Utah has already been a win after Smith Entertainment Group bought the team previously known as the Arizona Coyotes from former owner Alex Meruelo and moved it to Salt Lake City. The Coyotes played in the Phoenix area since 1996 after moving there from Winnipeg, where the team was the original Jets.

“The first year has been almost mind-blowing in terms of how successful Utah and you and everybody in SEG has been,” Bettman said. “This has been the ultimate team effort for the ultimate team sport. And while you may be thrilled to have us, we’re thrilled to be part of Utah and are grateful.”

The rollout of Mammoth even included a fan holding a Stanley cup — lower-case “C” — Yeti coolers’ biggest competition in that market. In the midst of a formative day in the organization’s history, Ryan Smith almost seemed to want to manifest another one sometime in the future, not for a mug but the sport’s most hallowed trophy.

“When we etch Utah Mammoth in Lord Stanley’s Cup,” he said, “that’ll be a good one.”

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL

The Atlantic Coast Conference is reducing its 20-game men’s basketball schedule to 18, giving teams two more spots for marquee nonconference games in a bid to boost a league getting a dwindling haul of NCAA Tournament bids, a person familiar with the decision said Wednesday.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the ACC hasn’t officially announced the move, which was first reported by CBS Sports.

The change for this fall comes after commissioner Jim Phillips has been vocal about spending the past two seasons examining the conundrum of the ACC getting fewer bids — down to four this year, its lowest haul since 2013 — despite having teams regularly playing deep into March. Going to 18 games could make room for schools to add quality nonconference matchups to help their schedule strength — and therefore the ACC’s stature, provided of course the league wins its share of measuring-stick games, unlike last year.

The league moved to a 20-game slate for the 2019-20 season with its ESPN-partnered launch of the ACC Network, though teams played fewer in 2020-21 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, the ACC was coming off a fourth straight season with at least seven NCAA bids — including a record nine in 2018 and 2019 — while having three No. 1 seeds in 2019 and winning three of five national titles (Duke in 2015, North Carolina in 2017 and Virginia in 2019).

Things have been tougher since the pandemic, coinciding with the retirement of big-name coaches like UNC’s Roy Williams, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim. Or last year with the unexpected departure of Virginia’s Tony Bennett weeks before tipoff.

The league had seven bids during the bubbled 2021 tournament in Indiana, then fell to five for three straight seasons before sliding to four this year, its first as an expanded 18-team basketball conference. By comparison, the ACC had just 12 teams the last time it got just four bids in 2013.

And yet, the league also had both UNC and Duke in the Final Four in 2022, Miami there in 2023, N.C. State in 2024 and Duke again in April.

The ACC’s move comes after a similar change for the Big 12, which announced in March that it would drop from 20 games to 18 after its coaches had expressed concerns about a grinding schedule with no time for rest. The SEC, which got a record 14 bids from its 16 teams last year, plays 18 games while the Big Ten plays 20.

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IRVING, Texas (AP) — Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark has received a three-year contract extension through 2030, the conference confirmed Tuesday.

ESPN first reported the Big 12 board of directors agreed to extend his original five-year contract, which was set to expire in 2027.

Yormark was CEO of Jay-Z’s Roc Nation entertainment company when he was hired to take over for Bob Bowlsby in 2022.

Yormark landed a six-year television contract extension with ESPN and Fox valued at $2.28 billion and shepherded the move of Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah to the Big 12 following the disintegration of the Pac-12. He also oversaw the Bowlsby-negotiated move of BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF into the Big 12 in 2023.

“I would like to thank the Board for their continued support,” Yormark said in a statement. “We have made great progress over the last three years, and our best days are ahead. I am thrilled to continue to work alongside our member schools as we grow and strengthen the Big 12 into a Conference that is innovative and prepared for what the future may hold.”

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