Update on the latest sports

NBA-MAVERICKS-KIDD

AP source: Mavs pick Kidd to replace Carlisle

DALLAS (AP) — Jason Kidd is returning to Dallas to replace Rick Carlisle, the coach he won a championship with as the point guard of the Mavericks 10 years ago, according to a person with direct knowledge of the agreement.

The person tells The Associated Press that Kidd and the Mavericks agreed on a contract Friday, eight days after Carlisle resigned abruptly in the wake of general manager Donnie Nelson’s departure.

The person says the Mavericks have also found Nelson’s replacement in Nike executive Nico Harrison. He will carry the titles of GM and president of basketball operations, as Nelson did.

The Indiana Pacers hired Carlisle on Thursday for his second stint as coach of the team.

NBA PLAYOFFS-HAWKS/BUCKS

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Trae Young and the inexperienced Atlanta Hawks seemingly aren’t feeling the pressure of playoff basketball as they try to give this franchise its first title in over six decades. These loose and confident Hawks have found a way to win just about every close game they’ve played. They’re 4-0 in postseason games decided by no more than three points and 6-1 when the margin is seven points or below.

The Hawks have a 1-0 series lead over the Milwaukee Bucks heading into Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals Friday night. The fifth-seeded Hawks have gone 6-2 in playoff road games as they chase the franchise’s first title since 1958, when they were based in St. Louis.

This is the fifth time the Bucks and Hawks have faced off in the playoffs and their first postseason matchup since the Hawks won 4-3 in a 2010 opening-round series. They split the four previous matchups.

NHL PLAYOFFS-ISLANDERS/LIGHTNING

Islanders visit Lightning to battle for spot in Stanley Cup Final

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Lightning haven’t lost consecutive postseason games in over two years and haven’t faced a winner-take-all challenge since 2018. That may speak to how difficult they’ve been to beat in the playoffs lately. But neither streak will mean anything when the defending Stanley Cup champions face the New York Islanders Friday night in Game 7 of the NHL semifinals.

The Lightning are going for their fourth appearance in the Stanley Cup Final. The Islanders are aiming for their first trip since 1984.

The winner will face the Montreal Canadiens, who finished off the Vegas Golden Knights in overtime Thursday night, 3-2, in Game 6 to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1993.

NFL-STEELERS-TURNER

Steelers sign 5-time Pro Bowl guard Turner to 1-year deal

PITTSBURGH (AP) — It didn’t take long for the Pittsburgh Steelers to find a replacement for David DeCastro.

The Steelers signed five-time Pro Bowl guard Trai Turner to a one-year deal on Friday, a day after cutting DeCastro.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but Pittsburgh did find itself with a little money to spend after releasing DeCastro, a six-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro who served as the linchpin of a line that was among the league’s best for the second half of the 2010s.

Turner heads to Pittsburgh three months after getting cut by the Los Angeles Chargers. He spent just one season in Los Angeles, playing in a career-low nine games.

WIMBLEDON-DRAW

Djokovic, Federer could meet in Wimbledon final; Halep out

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Novak Djokovic (NOH’-vak JOH’-kuh-vich) and Roger Federer have been placed on opposite sides of the Wimbledon bracket. That means they only could meet in the final. It would be a rematch of their epic 2019 title showdown won by Djokovic in a fifth-set tiebreaker.

Federer, who turns 40 on Aug. 8, is coming off a pair of operations to his right knee last year and has played only eight matches in the past 16 months.

The top-seeded Djokovic will have a lot at stake when play begins at the All England Club on Monday. He seeks a 20th major title to tie the men’s record shared by Federer and Rafael Nadal.

While Djokovic pursues Slam No. 20, Serena Williams will once again take a shot at No. 24, which would tie her with Margaret Court for the most major singles titles in tennis history. Williams, seeded No. 6, will open against 100th-ranked Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who reached Wimbledon’s fourth round in 2018. The 39-year-old American could meet No. 25 Angelique Kerber — who beat Williams in the 2018 final — in the third round.

The reigning women’s champion, No. 3-ranked Simona Halep (HAL’-ehp), pulled out of the field just before the draw began, citing a torn left calf that also forced her to sit out the French Open. No. 2 Naomi Osaka withdrew last week.

Two of the top five men are out, too: No. 3 Rafael Nadal, a two-time champion at Wimbledon, and No. 5 Dominic Thiem (teem), the 2020 U.S. Open champ.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-SPORTS

23rd MLB team reaches 85% COVID vaccinations as shots slow

UNDATED (AP) — A 23rd Major League Baseball team has reached the 85% vaccination threshold for players and other on-field personnel, which allows relaxed protocols, but there were few additional vaccinations in the past week.

Major League Baseball and the players’ association said Friday that 85.4% of tier 1 and 2 tier individuals had been fully vaccinated. That’s up just 0.1% from the previous week. And 86.5% had received at least one dose, unchanged from the previous week.

There were no positive tests in the last week. There were 1,854 tests, down from 9,104 the previous week.

In other pandemic-related developments:

— North Carolina State is playing its College World Series game Friday against Vanderbilt without four starting position players because of a COVID-19 issue on the team. The game was delayed an hour before NC State said that several players had entered the COVID-19 protocol. The Wolfpack opened the game with nine position players and four pitchers available. Freshman pitcher Garrett Payne, who had six appearances this season, made his first start. NC State won its first two games and needs a win Friday or Saturday to advance to the CWS finals.

— The president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee says a no-spectator Olympics remains an option, amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in Tokyo. That word Friday from Seiko Hashimoto comes days after she announced that up to 10,000 local fans would be allowed into venues. The move to allow fans went against many medical experts who have said the safest Olympics would be with no fans due to coronavirus. Fans from abroad were banned months ago. Organizers say they will take a another look at fan limits after the current “quasi-state of emergency” ends on July 11. The Olympics start July 23.

NASCAR-OBIT-INGRAM

‘Iron Man’ racer, NASCAR champion Jack Ingram dies at 84

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR Hall of Famer Jack Ingram has died at the age of 84. No details were released by the Hall of Fame, which announced Ingram’s death.

Ingram won five championships in NASCAR’s lower divisions. He was widely regarded as the best driver in history of NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series until Mark Martin broke his wins record. Kyle Busch now holds the record.

Ingram ended his career with 122 top-five and 164 top-10 finishes in 275 starts of what is now known as the Xfinity Series. He lived in North Carolina.