Luka Doncic participated in his first practice in two weeks on Wednesday, but the forward is unlikely to play when the Dallas Mavericks and Milwaukee Bucks meet in a preseason game Thursday.

Coach Jason Kidd said Doncic did "really, really well" Wednesday and is rebounding from a left calf contusion that he suffered during team workouts in training camp and required rest.

The Mavericks begin the regular season at home against the San Antonio Spurs on Oct. 24. Doncic, Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson have yet to appear in a preseason game together.

Thompson, 34, has been on the court for multiple preseason games while dealing with back tightness.

Doncic, 25, led the league in scoring with 33.9 points per game last season while adding a career-high 9.8 assists to go with 9.2 rebounds. The five-time first-team All-NBA selection has averaged 28.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists over 400 career games.

CLEVELAND -- Left-hander Matthew Boyd will start for the Cleveland Guardians in Game 3 of the AL Championship Series against the New York Yankees on Thursday.

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt made the announcement prior to a team workout at Progressive Field, a day before what's shaping up as a must-win game for Cleveland.

The Yankees won both games in New York to start the series, but Vogt said he is confident his team is ready to respond.

"We're always confident going into every game," Vogt said. "We love playing at home. We love playing in front of our fans. I think for us, knowing we have three games here, we feel really good about it."

Boyd, 33, signed as a free agent with Cleveland in late July and went 2-2 with a 2.72 ERA over eight starts. The veteran has limited postseason experience -- seven innings over 10 big league seasons -- but he is yet to be scored upon during those frames.

"I've spent the better parts of nine seasons watching the playoffs from home," Boyd said. "I also had one year in Seattle [where he pitched in the postseason, in 2022]. It's one of those things where you're like, 'Man, I know my time is going to come to get to do that.'"

Boyd started two games for Cleveland during its AL Division Series win against the Detroit Tigers, throwing 6 innings with 10 strikeouts. He will square off against New York righty Clarke Schmidt, who had previously been announced as the Yankees' starter for Thursday's game.

Schmidt allowed two runs over 4 innings in New York's Game 3 win of the ALDS against the Kansas City Royals. His first postseason experience came in two relief outings against the Guardians in a 2022 ALDS series. One of those appearances was at Progressive Field, when he allowed a run and three hits in of an inning.

At the very least, Schmidt knows what to expect.

"Having those experiences and kind of understanding what that environment is like, especially in that situation that I was in, back end of the game, I think it was probably the rowdiest part of the game," Schmidt said. "I think you have a lot of takeaways from there, and I've learned a lot from that and being able to take bits and pieces from that and try to adjust my game."

The first two games of the series have been ragged, especially for Cleveland, which was plagued by errors, wild pitches, walks and a lack of production with runners on base. While it's not what the Guardians hoped for on this big stage, Boyd says his team remains unbowed.

"We know what we're about," Boyd said. "Our record speaks for itself. We did it in the regular season. We know what we're made of. We're just going to go play our game."

Paul Pogba revealed he considered retirement after initially being handed a four-year ban for doping, admitting that he has to be "more careful" after taking a supplement that contained a prohibited substance.

Pogba, 31, saw his ban reduced to 18 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on appeal earlier this month, meaning he can return to professional football in March 2025.

Asked by ESPN whether he thought he would ever play again after the first ruling in February, Pogba said: "Yeah, I had many thoughts in my head, I had so many thoughts to even stop playing.

"I'm like: 'What am I going to do?' If it's four years, you start making the maths in your head. ... Four years not playing, training -- which club is going to want me? Would I be fit and stuff like that, you make a lot of pictures in your head.

"But on the other side, I had faith obviously, and I was positive. I knew I didn't do anything wrong on purpose, so then thankfully that happened and they reduce it."

The France midfielder tested positive for DHEA, a substance that raises testosterone levels, in August 2023 after Juventus' opening match of the 2023-24 season against Udinese. His last professional appearance came against Empoli on Sept. 3, 2023, before the news of his adverse test result broke.

Pogba added that the saga had made him wiser as a human being.

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Paul Pogba talks his doping ban in first interview

Watch in-full Paul Pogba's first interview since his 4-year doping ban was reduced to 18 months

"When you sit back and see how things went through my whole life, not only the doping, I'm like yeah, definitely I gained 10 more years, got more experience, more sage, I would say more wise," he said. "And it made me realise you sometimes have to be more careful of the decision that you take.

"Definitely what I've learned is you always triple check because until it happens, everything is fine. ... A lot of players have coaches, physios, chefs on their own and that can happen. So for sure the advice I would give everybody is make sure that you have everything on record.

"At the end of the day, obviously I took responsibility for not double checking."

The 2018 World Cup-winner remained tight-lipped when asked about his club future. His team is in talks with Juventus over a contract termination that would allow him to join a new club next year in preparation for a March return.

"Right now I'm with Juventus, so we don't know really what's going on," Pogba said. "All the parties are talking, lawyers, etc. So I want to know what will happen next.

"But my main focus right now is just to get myself ready. I keep training and everything. Get ready for being able to join a team in January."

Pogba said he is aware that he will have to re-prove himself if he is to earn a place back in Didier Deschamps' national team setup and spoke highly of his relationship with the head coach.

"It's so good to have somebody that is your manager and you can have a good relationship also outside football," he said. "And this is really rare and that's why I'm very grateful and appreciate the relation that I have with him.

"We need to respect these players [in the France team], also that they're here and you have to respect that. And the way I respect that is, for me, training hard to deserve my place because they deserve to be in the position and to play for the national team.

"And there is good players in this position also. It's always good to hear good positive things, 'We want you' and stuff like that. But you have to respect they're doing well."

The New Orleans Saints will be without their top two wide receivers for Thursday night's game against the Denver Broncos and former coach Sean Payton.

Rashid Shaheed will undergo knee surgery on Thursday in Los Angeles to repair his meniscus, while Chris Olave will miss the game due to a concussion he suffered last Sunday, Saints coach Dennis Allen said Wednesday.

Shaheed's surgery Thursday is expected to determine whether he will be sidelined multiple weeks or for the rest of the season, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Allen also said that tight end Taysom Hill is doubtful for the game. He has missed the Saints' past two games with fractured ribs.

Shaheed leads the Saints this season with 349 receiving yards and three touchdown receptions while Olave leads the team with 23 receptions and is second on the team with 280 receiving yards.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Two of the top wide receivers available on the trade market, Davante Adams and Amari Cooper, were dealt this week, but neither to the Kansas City Chiefs.

That's not to the dismay of quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who said the Chiefs have enough talent at wide receiver to get where they want to go.

"I have extreme confidence with the guys that are on that football field,'' Mahomes said. "They've won games, they've won Super Bowls, they've made plays in big moments and Brett Veach has done a great job of bringing players in that can step up whenever their number is called.

"Every time I step on that football field, I feel like we have the best ability to win, and I think that's a credit to Brett Veach and coach [Andy] Reid bringing in guys that really get after it and put in the work to be great every single day.''

The Chiefs could still add a receiver before the trade deadline next month. They lost two of their top wide receivers in Rashee Rice and Hollywood Brown to injury.

That leaves the Chiefs with Xavier Worthy, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Justin Watson as their top three wideouts. Worthy, the Chiefs' first-round draft pick, has 12 catches and four touchdowns, including two rushing. Smith-Schuster had seven catches for 130 yards in the Chiefs' most recent game against the New Orleans Saints while Watson has six catches for 87 yards this season.

Mahomes called Sunday's game at the San Francisco 49ers "as big as a regular season game you could play in'' because of the recent history between the teams. The Chiefs beat the 49ers in overtime in last season's Super Bowl and in Super Bowl LIV by scoring three touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

"Whenever you have two great football teams that meet up in the Super Bowl and meet up in all these big games, there's going to be a history between that and so obviously we've been able to win those games,'' Mahomes said. "But we know how good this football team is and we have a ton of respect for them and so it's not like one play couldn't have changed all these football games and so we're going with that mindset of we've just got to make the plays whenever they count.''

The NCAA is closing the loophole used by Oregon to shave time off the game clock at the end of Saturday's win over Ohio State.

In a release Wednesday, the NCAA issued a new rules interpretation on how to handle a penalty for 12 players on the field in the final two minutes of either half. If the defense has 12 players actively participate in the down, the offense can choose, along with the 5-yard penalty, to have the game clock reset to the time that had been displayed at the snap.

No time change would be made if there were 12 players but one of them was attempting to leave the field and did not affect the play.

Oregon coach Dan Lanning said Monday that the No. 2 Ducks had intentionally used 12 men on defense against the Buckeyes to help run time off the clock as they closed out the final seconds of their 32-31 win.

"We spend an inordinate amount of time on situations and some situations don't come up very often in college football, but this was obviously something we had worked on," Lanning said. "You can see the result."

Just before the ball was snapped, Oregon defensive back Dontae Manning walked onto the field, giving the Ducks an extra defender. Ohio State failed to complete a pass against Oregon's 12-man defense, and the Ducks were flagged for an illegal substitution penalty, surrendering 5 yards but also taking four seconds off the clock. A scramble by Ohio State quarterback Will Howard on the next play ended the game.

Such a ploy will no longer work going forward, as NCAA football secretary-rules editor Steve Shaw said in a statement that they were looking to "take away any gain for the defense" from committing an intentional penalty.

"Football is a very dynamic game," Shaw said. "Occasionally there are specific situations where committing a penalty can give a team an advantage. A guiding principle of the NCAA Football Rules Committee is that there should be no benefit when a team commits a penalty."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Free agent sharpshooter Doug McDermott has agreed to a deal with the Sacramento Kings, sources told ESPN.

McDermott joins the Kings, a Western Conference playoff contender, for his 11th NBA season, providing an accomplished veteran scorer and respected teammate.

The Kings were afforded the roster flexibility to add McDermott after Monday's trade of forward Jalen McDaniels, who was dealt to the San Antonio Spurs, according to sources.

McDermott, 32, has shot 41% from 3-point range over his 10-year NBA career, averaging 8.9 points per game.

The 6-foot-6 McDermott split last season between the San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers, averaging 5.5 points over 64 games.

CHICAGO -- Bulls guard Lonzo Ball said he is "full of joy" to be preparing for his first NBA game in more than two years, but he also acknowledged that he won't be the same player he was when he last took the court in January 2022.

"It's not the same body I started off with," Ball said after Wednesday's shootaround. "But I think I can still be productive and effective on the court. That's why I'm still trying to play."

Ball will be restricted to no more than 16 minutes in Wednesday night's preseason game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

He last played in a game for Chicago on Jan. 14, 2022. Since then, he's undergone three arthroscopic procedures on his left knee, including a rare double cartilage transplant in March 2023.

"Long. Really long," Ball said with a laugh when looking back at his recovery process. "But looking back on it, it went a lot faster than I thought. ... Them telling me 18 more months recovery [after the third surgery], it sounds crazy in the moment, but now I'm here. It's all behind me now."

In his first season in Chicago in 2021-22, Ball averaged 13.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists on 42% shooting in 35 games.

Throughout the recovery process, Ball, who will turn 27 later this month remained confident he'd return to the court, seeking opinions from multiple knee specialists until he found a path to recovery.

"I think it's the belief in myself -- knowing what I was feeling, knowing that I was a good age to come back from it," Ball said. "I'm just trusting in the doctors and people around me."

By August, Ball was cleared to play in 5-on-5 scrimmages. He arrived at the Bulls' facility a few weeks ahead of training camp to begin working out with the rest of the team. He had expected to make his preseason debut earlier in the schedule, but he was set back a few days after testing positive for COVID.

Ball has also had bouts of soreness throughout the preseason, which he said is to be expected. He emphasized both he and the team will have to manage his workload and playing time this season.

"We have a good handle right now, but I think it's going to change throughout the year," Ball said. "Every day is going to be a different challenge we just have to overcome."

NEW YORK -- Nestor Cortes is on track to possibly be added to the New York Yankees' roster if they advance to the World Series.

Cortes was to throw batting practice Wednesday at Yankee Stadium before New York headed to Cleveland with a 2-0 lead in the American League Championship Series. The 29-year-old left-hander hasn't pitched in a game since Sept. 18 because of a flexor strain in his pitching elbow.

"I think he's at least a realistic option," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "Not saying for sure, but the timeline lines up to where if things go well, he could definitely be an option."

Cortes is 9-10 with a 3.77 ERA. He could throw batting practice again this weekend, giving the Yankees time to evaluate him before the World Series starts on Oct. 22 or 25.

"He's got steps to go and he's got to continue to feel good and bounce back and things like that," Boone said, "but the way it's gone to this point has been encouraging."

New York and Cleveland resume their best-of-seven series on Thursday.

Despite being unable to beat a top-40 player for the first time, Fearnley looks likely to consolidate his place in the top 100 after a fine week in the Swedish capital.

Stepping up to the top-level ATP Tour, Fearnley won two qualifying matches before beating tricky Frenchman Corentin Moutet in the first round of the main draw to reach the last 16.

The three victories in Stockholm came on the back of two successive titles on the Challenger Tour, which is the tier of events below the main tour.

Fearnley hopes to earn a spot in the qualifying draw for the upcoming ATP indoor event in Swiss city Basel next week.

His aim over the coming weeks is securing his place in the top 100 and earning direct entry into January's Australian Open as a result.

Elsewhere on Wednesday, Britain's Harriet Dart lost 6-3 6-2 against Denmark's Clara Tauson in a WTA 250 event in Osaka, Japan.

Dart, 28, reached a career-high of 70th last month and is looking to finish an encouraging season strongly.