With first-match nerves out of the way, Mark Wood is ready to play his part in England's World Cup bounce-back effort starting with Saturday's match against Bangladesh.

Wood does not expect to necessarily keep his place in the team, despite taking two important wickets during England's 14-run defeat at the hands of Pakistan on Monday. Nor does he think the hosts and tournament favourites will attempt to re-invent the wheel in response to their loss.

Wood claimed 2 for 53 - including the wickets of Pakistan's top scorer, Mohammad Hafeez, for and dangerous batsman Asif Ali for just 14 - in a less-familiar middle-overs role, bowling in tandem with Moeen Ali after Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer had led the pace attack. Woakes shone with three wickets and a staggering four catches, Moeen also claimed three wickets while Archer conceded 79 runs in his wicket-less 10-over spell. That's not to say Wood escaped any tournament debut jitters, quite the contrary.

"I cannot say for the others, but I was nervous," Wood said. "First World Cup match. I was playing a slightly different role. I wanted to do well.

"Liam Plunkett has taken a million wickets in the middle overs and I was thinking the first thing I have to do is get a wicket. And I didn't get a wicket until the [43rd], and I was thinking, 'he's still the main man!' Yes, I was nervous, but good nerves.

"It was nice to have a couple of extra fielders out for a change. I'm used to bowling up top but this was a slightly different role. I felt Mo and myself did really well as a partnership. He was keeping it tight as well which meant I could attack a little more ... so a nice time to come on and show my value in a different role."

England will manage their fast bowlers' workloads carefully, particularly for Wood and Woakes, who have had long-term injury issues, which means none of them are guaranteed a place against Bangladesh.

"We'll pick whichever team best suits the conditions," Wood said. "I'm pleased personally that it has gone well. But for the next game, Cardiff is a place with big square boundaries and Liam Plunkett has bowled well there in the past so he would probably come back in. It's just who for or which bowler might be left out."

Avoiding the cliché of turning a loss into a positive, Wood gave the impression England were following Joe Root's advice and not hitting the panic button based on one defeat, which ultimately came down to poor fielding.

"It's never nice to lose so, yes, there are lessons learned but we've been learning lessons for four years. This isn't like a thing like we say we need to change the wheel," Wood said. "We weren't good enough in one area - the field - and that will be addressed before the next game. But I still think we're in a pretty good place.

"Maybe we will put it down as one of those days when we were beaten by a better team and we need to improve one aspect of our game ... we needed 11 Chris Woakeses in every position and we would have been all right. Now we train really hard and do a lot on our fielding.

"Whether it was the occasion, there were a lot of Pakistan fans, whether we got wound up by their batters, them smacking it, whether we just got too heated in the moment, I don't know. But it was unlike us, normally we are a really good fielding side."

And Wood backed his team to come back stronger against a Bangladesh team buoyed by their opening win against South Africa.

"We have a huge target on our back because we are the favourites for the tournament, the home side, everyone wants to beat us," he said. "What we have done well over the years is bounce back well and I think we need that going into the next match regardless of what it was - Bangladesh, Australia, New Zealand, whoever. We need to bounce back with a bit of authority and say that we're here to win it and put on a real show."

Sussex 481 for 9 dec (Van Zyl 173, Brown 107, Salt 50, Beer 50) beat Middlesex 138 (Wiese 5-26) and 293 (Harris 80, Simpson 76, Robinson 7-98) by an innings and 50 runs

Ollie Robinson returned his best figures of the season as Sussex finally overcame dogged Middlesex resistance on the final day to triumph at Lord's by an innings and 50 runs.

Robinson finished the match with 10 wickets, adding 7 for 98 to his first-innings 3 for 50 as the home side eventually succumbed after spirited knocks from James Harris and John Simpson had taken the match into a final hour.

Harris, with 80 from 211 balls, and Simpson, with 76 from 154, registered their highest scores of the season, combining gritty defiance with some classy strokeplay as they put together a partnership of 103 for the sixth wicket.

But Sussex, having failed to complete victories on the final day of their previous two County Championship games, stuck at it and forced the win - although they were forced to call on the services of coach Jason Gillespie as substitute fielder during the closing stages.

With Phil Salt and Laurie Evans both off the field injured, the former Australia international - who retired in 2008 - donned his whites to take up a position inside the boundary rope and witness Sussex's victory at close hand.

Resuming at 61 for 4 in the morning, Harris and Nick Gubbins helped to ensure that Middlesex would not be rolled over cheaply for a second time in the match as they compiled a stand of 58. Gubbins, with 33, looked strong on the off side, forcing boundaries off Mir Hamza and David Wiese before the latter dismissed him with a questionable lbw decision, the ball appearing to be missing off stump.

Harris and Simpson saw Middlesex through to lunch, but the all-rounder had a fortunate escape in the first over after the interval, fending off a Robinson bouncer that rolled on to the stumps but left the bails in place. He appeared to be unfazed, however, progressing to his third Championship half-century of the season with a sweet cover drive off Robinson soon after lunch and continuing to find gaps in the field as Middlesex kept the scoreboard moving.

With dark clouds overhead, Sussex finally used the spin of Will Beer for the first time in the match and he gave Harris another scare with an lbw shout that was turned down.

The partnership remained intact throughout the afternoon session, realising three figures when Hamza was recalled to take the new ball and saw it immediately dispatched to the boundary by Harris. But the Pakistan seamer made the breakthrough with his first delivery after tea, finding the outside edge to end Harris's stay of almost four and a half hours.

Meanwhile, Simpson advanced to 50 before surviving a couple of close calls - an edge that Salt fumbled at second slip and then a leg-before appeal by Wiese soon afterwards.

Robinson, having taken the first four wickets of the innings, belatedly completed his five-for by castling Toby Roland-Jones for a breezy 17.

Ollie Rayner announced his arrival at the crease with a string of boundaries, but Robinson struck again when he persuaded Simpson to fish outside off stump, with Chris Jordan taking the catch. Ethan Bamber soon followed and Hamza wrapped up proceedings by having last man Tim Murtagh caught in the slips with 12.4 overs to spare.

Surrey 231 (Patel 63, Foakes 57) and 99 for 2 (Burns 48, Brooks 2-22) trail Somerset 344 and 153 (Hildreth 64, Dunn 5-43) by 167 runs

An exciting, absorbing third day's play at Guildford saw 17 wickets tumble and ended with Surrey, the 2018 champions, still believing that a remarkable first victory of the season is possible against Somerset, last year's runners-up.

Needing 267 to win, Surrey will start the final day on 99 for 2, with Scott Borthwick on 35 not out after adding a determined 72 in 27 overs for the second wicket with Rory Burns, who slog-swept left-arm spinner Jack Leach for six and also hit eight fours in an excellent 48.

Jack Brooks, who also bowled Mark Stoneman for 12 in his second over with the new ball, struck a potentially crucial blow just before the close, however, when he had Burns, Surrey's captain, caught at first slip. Scoring the remaining 168 runs Surrey require will not be an easy task.

In seam-friendly conditions, under overcast skies, Surrey had earlier resurrected their chances in dramatic fashion, Matt Dunn taking a career-best 5 for 43 as Somerset's last seven second-innings wickets fell for 39 and they were bowled out for 153.

James Hildreth's silky 64 from 80 balls, including 11 fours and by far the best batting of the day, had threatened to put the game beyond Surrey's reach after a hostile new-ball spell of 6-2-12-2 from Morne Morkel had removed openers Tom Abell and Marcus Trescothick.

Tom Banton then fell to Dunn, leg-before for 12 on the stroke of lunch, to leave Somerset 50 for 3 but Hildreth and first-innings centurion George Bartlett added 64 for the fourth wicket to put the visitors seemingly in complete control.

Ryan Patel, however, who was last out for a defiant 63 when Surrey slid from their overnight 188 for 5 to 231 all out, then shaped one into Hildreth's pads to win a leg-before appeal - the ball appearing to hit pad and then bat - and, suddenly, Somerset were struggling to build the lead of above 300 that would surely have made them overwhelming favourites.

Bartlett, on 16, edged Rikki Clarke to be athletically caught to his right by keeper Ben Foakes, and then Morkel and Dunn sparked the Somerset collapse. Still, the victory target is a stiff one on a pitch that makes batting a testing business, especially against the new ball.

At the start of the day, Craig Overton's opening spell of 5-1-12-3 had set the tone for what was to follow, with Surrey losing their last five wickets for 41 runs in 14 overs.

But Somerset's second innings began with Abell and Trescothick, respectively, caught at gully for 9 and behind the wicket for 12, although the latter clearly did not think he had touched the ball. Morkel, however, was extracting fearsome lift and, even with an older ball when he was brought back in mid-afternoon, facing the giant South African was not for the faint-hearted.

Morkel, on his return, had Craig Overton caught and bowled for 1 with his first ball - which spat from just short of a length to take the shoulder of the bat and loop so high into the air that the bowler could run forwards and take the catch just beside the batsman.

Dunn then finished off the innings in some style, having Jamie Overton caught behind for 2, trapping Steven Davies leg-before for 16 and, after tea, bowling Jack Leach for 5 and also swinging one back into Tim Groenewald's stumps to dismiss him for 10.

Craig Overton's early morning burst earned him final figures of 5 for 38 in Surrey's first innings. Will Jacks did not add to his overnight 13 before edging to second slip, Clarke steered to gully after a bright and breezy 20 and Morkel miscued to mid-on without scoring.

Jamie Overton ended with 3 for 46, with Patel skying an intended pull to mid on, and Groenewald picked up the other Surrey wicket to fall, that of Gareth Batty for a duck, as the seamers of both sides dominated the day.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Colts general manager Chris Ballard says he knew Stanford's Bobby Okereke had been accused of sexual assault in 2015 when he drafted the linebacker in April.

"When we looked at it and talked about it and talking to the young man, an incident from four years ago, no discipline by the university [and] he was never charged with a crime," Ballard said Wednesday. "And then you look at his track record from that point to now. Team captain. Lott Trophy quarterfinalist. He graduated with a degree in management and engineering. He's working on his master's. From 2015 to 2019, from everything we gathered and high recommendations that we got, it felt appropriate to take him."

Okereke was forthcoming about what occurred in 2015 when he met with the Colts at the Senior Bowl in January, Ballard said. The general manager said the team investigated the situation, including reviewing the documents from the ensuing Title IX case, and felt comfortable selecting the linebacker in the third round.

According to a New York Times story in December 2016, an unnamed Stanford football player was not disciplined by the school or football team after an in-house disciplinary board made up of five panelists did not get the necessary four votes to say they believed he sexually assaulted the accuser. Three of five did believe the accuser, according to the newspaper. Ballard said Okereke told the team that he was the player in the article when he was asked at the Senior Bowl if the Colts should be aware of any issues in his past.

"[These things are] very difficult," Ballard said. "Not only from our perspective from trying to get the information, but from the university perspective. You have a he-said, she-said incident. I don't want to sit here and act like we don't have sensitivity for both sides of it. But as I've kind of said, it happened four years ago and because there were no charges or disciplinary actions by the university and then his track record from everything we know to this point has been good."

The general manager acknowledged Wednesday that the team did not talk to the accuser or her lawyer due to the fact that there were no charges or discipline handed down by Stanford officials.

Ballard, who has put a premium on character inside the locker room as he continues reshaping the organization, was asked why he did not reveal the information about Okereke sooner.

"I didn't see it [as] appropriate considering he had never been charged or disciplined by the university. That's the reason why we did not give you that information," Ballard said.

The woman accusing Cristiano Ronaldo of raping her has shifted the venue for her legal charges against the football superstar, dropping her case in Nevada state court but filing identical charges against Ronaldo in federal court, according to her attorney.

Several news media outlets reported early Wednesday that the charges filed by Kathryn Mayorga, who alleges that Ronaldo raped her in 2009, had been "quietly dropped," implying that the case was over.

But Larissa Drohobyczer, who is one of Mayorga's attorneys, told ESPN that the change of venue was simply a response to the difficulty that the lawyers have had in serving Ronaldo, who lives in Italy, with notice of the state lawsuit.

"The charges were not dropped," Drohobyczer told ESPN. "The state case was dismissed by us because we filed the identical claims in federal court due to federal court's rules on serving foreigners. We basically just switched venues, but the claims remain."

A source said that Ronaldo's agency, Gestifute, was not aware that the state case was dropped.

Mayorga says that Ronaldo raped her during an encounter in a hotel penthouse suite, then paid her $375,000 to keep quiet about it. Last year, Mayorga filed a lawsuit saying the previous settlement was invalid and that Ronaldo violated its terms anyway. Ronaldo's Las Vegas-based lawyer, Peter Christiansen, did not return a message seeking comment on Wednesday. Ronaldo has previously denied the allegations against him.

The Las Vegas police are also investigating potential criminal charges against Ronaldo, and that investigation remains open.

It has been two years since striker Ada Hegerberg, 23, informed the Norwegian soccer federation that she would not play for her national team until she saw more tangible progress toward equal working conditions and overall support for the women's program. She has never wavered in that decision, despite some initiatives by Norwegian officials, and will watch the 2019 Women's World Cup from home this summer.

But it won't be a vacation, as she told ESPN.com senior writer Bonnie D. Ford earlier this year. Hegerberg's incandescent talent -- honed by her five seasons with superclub Olympique Lyonnais and her solo workouts during breaks for international play -- have lifted her to the top of the game, embodied when she hoisted the inaugural women's Ballon d'Or trophy last year. That was before she scored a hat trick within 17 minutes in May to secure Lyon's fourth consecutive Champions League title.

ESPN: Given that there isn't salary parity between men and women, what are the most important details here [in Lyon] that make you feel as if you're being treated equally?

HEGERBERG: It's the amount of respect and the fact that we're equal in terms of conditions, the pitches we have, eating in the same canteen and really taking a part in the club together with the men's team. People stay here a long time because they love it, they actually have a comfortable life here, and they can live from football and compete at the highest level.

There are some countries with very strong clubs, such as France, that have not succeeded in the World Cup. The United States? Total opposite: great success in the World Cup, and our club system has struggled. Why do you think there's that disconnect?

In the U.S., they have spent so much more time together in the national team rather than the club. Here it's different. You have your everyday life in the club, and then you go to the national team maybe once every second month. I've heard a lot of people talking about how big the World Cup is going to be, and I really hope that happens. But we forget the fact that you have all the interest in a big tournament, then suddenly, bam! You go back to your club, and you have, like, 200 people watching your games. So bringing the buzz from big tournaments into your everyday club life, getting people to show up at your games, that's important. For example, when we played the final of the 2013 Euros [in Sweden], we played in front of 40,000 people, and some players from Norway were playing in league games the weekend after in front of, like, 200 people. It was a shock -- for everyone.

What gave you the mental and emotional strength to make the decision to not play with Norway?

I'm in a club that has standards, and I'm used to that. My family, we're all about quality, so I put the bar quite high. I demand a lot of things from myself, but then I also demand that everything should be in place around me so that we can succeed.

I was trying to make an impact [on Norway] for a lot of years, and I could see that in this system, in the federation, it didn't fit me at all. I feel like I was placed in a system where I didn't have a voice. I felt this weight on my shoulders more and more: This isn't working. When you're quite sure about yourself and the values and where you want to go, it's easy to make difficult choices. For me at that point, being able not to lose myself and not to lose what I believe in, I had to take that choice. I couldn't go any other way. And as soon as I did it, it was like [exhales], I could be myself again. I could perform on the highest level again.

But those weeks in front of that decision were almost like a depression. It was such a hard thing to do. It can't be easy when a woman stands and tries to be critical in a positive way. For me, it was really important that [the federation] knew what I was talking about, point by point. When the media asked me what I told the federation, I said, that's between me and them so they can work on it. But it doesn't seem like they took it in the way they should have. Ever since, I just put that behind me and try to perform at the highest level with Lyon.

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-- Women's World Cup team preview: Norway

Then in a cosmic coincidence, Norway winds up in the same group as France. Do you think you'll follow it closely?

I'm going to watch the World Cup, no doubt. I've got a lot of teammates playing. But there's no emotional connection. I'm totally confident with my decision since day one. It took me to the highest levels, the Ballon d'Or.

I saw the Ballon d'Or trophy downstairs in the club museum. Was it hard for you to give it up?

I was just so afraid of keeping it at my place. I'm going to let it stay here for some time, and one day I'll bring it home when I get a proper alarm.

How do you view what the U.S. players are doing, suing their federation for equal pay?

They've got the guts, and they're together about it. That's the next thing. Women need to back women in cases like this, even more than we do today. If each woman stands up and uses her voice, imagine how many voices would be together and how strong a mass that would be. And I feel that responsibility myself as well. Even though sometimes I would be like, [sighs] "Am I really going to take on that fight?" I would always think, but what will it bring for the future, for others? That's in the back in my head, behind every decision I make. I got this question from a journalist as well: Do you consider yourself a football player or a feminist?

Why do you have to choose?

Yeah! It's impossible to play football in a world among men and not fight for equality. We're all feminists. Playing football can be damn harsh, but every day is a fight for equality. That's a fact. We've made it here [in Lyon] because you've got one man at the top believing in us. But it's still a long, long way to go, and you can see it in small examples every day.

We're still in a time when an insult to a woman can gain more attention than an accomplishment. There's the question [about twerking] you were asked at the Ballon d'Or presentation.

I didn't take it as sexist. I just thought it was a really stupid question at a really stupid time. If he'd asked M'bappe that question, they would be like, what is he doing?

It put you in an impossible situation. If you don't say anything, you're not strong enough, and if you react strongly, you're too strong.

Exactly. You can't say anything without getting consequences. But I always have humor for it as well. You should have balance between humor and what's not acceptable.

It's tiring, right?

Sometimes I would call my mom, and I would be so angry. That doesn't happen that often, but sometimes you see stuff even outside football, and it just goes into me at a certain moment, and it's like, why? Where is this going to end? Is there a better future? But then I get a grip, and it's like [exhales], let's go again.

You have a lot of years ahead. It's not like it's the end of your career -- knock on wood.

Yeah. [Laughs] But seriously, I want to show what I'm good at, on the pitch and outside the pitch. I never considered myself less worthy than a man in football. Never. Never, never, never. It's all about changing attitudes.

I understand you like biographies. What's the last one you read?

It was about Muhammad Ali.

What did you get from that book?

He was a hard-working man. I try to read a lot of women's biographies as well because I think there are a lot more women out there who are like Alis.

What keeps you hungry?

Improving. And winning. The way I work, I always ask myself: What did go well this year, and what do we need to work on? I always have a plan in my head. I do it with my crew at home, my family and my fiancé, a physical coach, a mental coach. It's demanding sometimes, even when it goes well. So when the Ballon d'Or came, it was like "Hallelujah!" That was the timing I needed.

The joy of repeating is quite different from the joy of doing something for the first time.

My motivation is staying at the top as long as possible. I know that I'm capable of it. I've had some years at the top now, but I know I can continue if I do things right.

USA Basketball is finalizing a training camp roster for the FIBA World Cup in China that includes Portland's Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, Washington's Bradley Beal and Cleveland's Kevin Love, league sources told ESPN.

USA Basketball will conduct an August minicamp in Las Vegas ahead of the September tournament in China that will include an 18-man camp roster for coach Gregg Popovich's eventual 12-man American team.

Among other players planning to attend the camp with intentions to play in China: New Orleans' Anthony Davis, Houston guards James Harden and Eric Gordon, Boston's Jayson Tatum, Utah's Donovan Mitchell, Milwaukee's Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez, and the Lakers' Kyle Kuzma, league sources told ESPN.

Houston's P.J. Tucker told ESPN's Tim McMahon that he will be a part of the training camp, and another tough-minded veteran, Denver's Paul Millsap, is also a possibility, league sources told ESPN.

USA Basketball will hold the training camp Aug. 5-8 in Las Vegas and compete Aug. 21-Sept. 15 in China. Team USA will also play an exhibition schedule that includes stops in California and Australia.

Team USA will compete in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with a roster that is expected to include more All-NBA level players.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- As the NBA Finals shift west beginning with Game 3 at Oracle Arena between the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night, plenty of attention will be paid to Kyle Lowry.

Toronto's All-Star point guard has struggled with his shot during the first two games of this series, going 6-for-20 from the field and 4-for-12 from 3-point range. He struggled in Game 2, finishing with 13 points on 4-for-11 shooting to go with two assists and two turnovers before fouling out with 3:52 remaining in a game the Raptors went on to lose.

As the Raptors prepare for Game 3, their floor general says to expect him to be more aggressive when he takes the floor Wednesday night, in an attempt to both jump-start his own offense and try to get Toronto back in front in this best-of-seven affair.

"To play," Lowry told ESPN with a grin when asked what he expected from himself in Game 3. "To do whatever I need to do to help my team win. Being on the road, I may be more looking for my shot, being more aggressive.

"I play better on the road, and I always have. That's how I've always been. The road is where it's supposed to be the toughest, and I love the road."

The Raptors will be hoping Lowry is right, as they could use a renaissance performance from him in Game 3. While the Warriors are the walking wounded right now -- with Kevin Durant and Kevon Looney already ruled out, Klay Thompson questionable to play and Andre Iguodala limping around but declared ready to go -- they still are the two-time defending champions, and winners of three of the past four NBA titles and in their fifth straight trip to the league's championship round.

That championship DNA shone through in Game 2, when Golden State's mantra of "Strength In Numbers" helped carry the Warriors to a desperately needed win.

Given the hostile environment Oracle Arena presents for any opponent -- especially on this kind of stage -- it would be the perfect time, from the Raptors' perspective, for Lowry to step up and have a performance like he did in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Milwaukee Bucks, when he poured in 30 points on the road (though Toronto also lost the game).

"I'm always playing with a chip on my shoulder, and especially here," Lowry told ESPN. "It's going to be loud. It's going to be a jam-packed house. They're going to be excited to be here. I haven't been aggressive."

But while Lowry wasn't aggressive offensively in Game 1, it didn't matter because the Raptors got huge games from both Pascal Siakam and Marc Gasol.

In Game 2, though, Lowry wasn't aggressive, in part, because he let the referees get in his head. He got in foul trouble early in the game -- something he said he has to avoid in Game 3 -- and then committed a terrible foul, his sixth, when he slapped DeMarcus Cousins on the arm in a poor attempt to get a steal 92 feet from Golden State's basket with 3:52 remaining.

"The last foul was a frustration foul," Lowry told ESPN. "I had a couple I felt like I was in the right spot, and didn't get it, for sure. [But] that was a frustration foul. That was a stupid foul. That was my fault."

The Raptors, like Lowry does personally, expect to bounce back in Game 3. But one thing that shouldn't be expected to be a big part of their game plan -- whether Thompson plays or not -- is the much-discussed box-and-one defense Toronto employed over the final few minutes of Game 2.

It was a hot topic of conversation throughout Tuesday's media availability for both teams -- mainly because, at this level, few people had seen it used before.

"Yeah, I know, everybody's making fun of me for it," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said with a smile.

He then went on to explain how the decision came about in the first place.

"Well, in all those things ... first of all, your players have to have some faith in it," he said. "I got a sense from them that they were good with it in the timeout.

"I was like, 'Hey, I'm thinking about going box-and-one; what do you guys think?' And they were like, 'Well, what does that look like? I drew the box up and who would be where.

"Kyle was kind of the one that said, 'Yeah, man, that will work, let's go.' That kind of lets you, I don't know, share the responsibility a little bit. We all are on the same page and we leave the huddle and we're all good with it. So that helps."

Lowry described it another way.

"Never practiced that ever," Lowry said with a smile. "I don't think I've ever run a box-and-one in my life, I'm going to be honest with you.

"I didn't look at it as anything but what Coach said to do. I don't know if it worked or not. I don't know the numbers or whatever it was. But it was pretty innovative. The first time a team has probably ever played box-and-one in the NBA ever. So you give Nick Nurse credit for that."

Andre Iguodala's left calf is aching.

The 35-year-old swingman, who has been dealing with the injury throughout most of the Golden State Warriors' postseason run, spends the moments following Game 2 of the NBA Finals limping through the locker room inside Scotiabank Arena. Iguodala peels off his jersey and tells the assembled media what continues to motivate him to play through injuries at the tail end of a 15-year career.

"I like Steph," Iguodala says. "He's a good dude, good guy to be around. That's really the only reason why I like playing basketball."

In this moment, Iguodala's motive is far deeper than the joy he gets from playing alongside Stephen Curry; he is also determined to bolster Curry's individual résumé. Coincidentally, that means getting Curry something Iguodala already has: an NBA Finals MVP award.

"I've never seen a person, such a good person, ever get some backlash, whatever, from his peers," Iguodala said. "Because they're so jealous of what he has. ... So whatever it takes to protect his legacy, I'm all for it."

Since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976-77, Curry is part of a small group of players who have won both a regular-season MVP award and a title but not claimed Finals MVP. Like Curry has the past two years, David Robinson and Julius Erving played alongside another MVP (Tim Duncan and Moses Malone, respectively) when they won their titles, while Kevin Garnett was four years removed from his MVP season -- and on a different team -- when he won his lone championship.

Getting Curry off that list is on the Warriors' to-do list, not because Curry wants them to -- as Andrew Bogut put it, "It would help him solidify his place in history, but I don't think that's going to matter too much to him" -- but because he's so beloved by his teammates.

"He's been a great teammate for eight years," fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson said before Game 2. "Even a better friend. You root for guys like Steph because he doesn't take any shortcuts. He works extremely hard. He's a family man. He's just a prime example of what you want your leader to be."

Iguodala echoed those sentiments, saying, "He's not arrogant. He doesn't go about life like a superstar. DeMarcus [Cousins] said it one day -- he was like, 'He's the most normal superstar I've ever seen.' He's like, 'This is unreal.' But it's just talk about culture. People don't understand how important that is."

Curry has played well on the game's biggest stage. He was the team's leading scorer in the 2015 Finals, averaging nearly 10 points per game more than Iguodala, who won Finals MVP. He led the Warriors in scoring again in 2016, when they lost in seven games to the Cleveland Cavaliers -- a setback Curry blames himself for.

Kevin Durant arrived that summer, and took the Finals scoring lead from Curry en route to winning each of the past two Finals MVPs. Still, Curry averaged 27.1 points per game over those two series, an increase over the 25.7 PPG he put up in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 regular seasons.

"I think if you ask him he'll take that championship and everyone being healthy," said Bogut, who was part of the Warriors' title team in 2015 and, after stints with Cleveland, Dallas and the Lakers over the past two seasons, rejoined Golden State earlier this season. "In my opinion, I don't think [winning Finals MVP] changes the direction of his career, but I guess for the media people that are out there criticizing him for not having that, it might silence them a little bit, for at least a year -- until they find something else to criticize him for."

Curry backed up Bogut's sentiments, downplaying the importance of the individual honor when compared to winning a third consecutive title.

"In the positions that we are in, that's just nitpicking at the end of the day, if I really want to cause a hissy fit about not winning the Finals MVP with all that we've experienced and all the highs that we've been to," he said. "When [Durant] won the last two, he deserved both of them. He played amazing, such consistent basketball at a high level.

"Do I feel like we win a championship without myself or with what Draymond [Green] did or Andre did? No. Everybody has a part in what we do, and whoever wins it this year, it's the same vibe."

With Durant sidelined with a strained calf, Curry entered the series as the betting favorite to win his first Finals MVP. He heads into Game 3 (Wednesday, 9 p.m. ET on ABC/WatchESPN) as the team's leading scorer with 57 points, tied with Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard for the most in the series. He has also added nine assists, eight rebounds and a series-high four steals.

And while Curry's Warriors teammates would like him to eventually take home the one major award he has yet to win, they aren't going to risk losing the series by force-feeding Curry.

To wit, his usage rate through two games in 2019 (27.1%) is actually down from the 2018 Finals (32.3%), when he was playing alongside a healthy Durant. And when the Raptors went to a box-and-one zone defense designed to slow down Curry in Game 1, he didn't attempt a single shot, choosing to trust his teammates rather than force the issue.

"Don't get me wrong, I play to play my best and to do what I need to do to help my team win, and that's never going to change," Curry said before the series. "Got to win and then let the rest take care of itself."

Curry is now facing the prospect of playing Game 3 without both Durant and Thompson, with the latter listed as questionable after straining his hamstring late in Game 2.

Add in Iguodala's various ailments, Cousins still being less than 100 percent after his surprising return from the torn quadriceps he suffered in the first round, and backup center Kevon Looney likely being out for the rest of the series, and this is probably as thin a squad as Curry has had around him at any point in this five-year playoff run.

Without Durant, the Warriors have become the first team since the 1991 Lakers to play a Finals game without their leading scorer from the regular season. Losing Thompson, should he be unable to play Game 3, would leave Golden State without its third-leading scorer as well. Durant and Thompson combined to score 3,707 points in the regular season. No other player on the Warriors' roster aside from Curry scored even 600 points this season.

With a less-accomplished player, questions might surface as to whether he could carry such a banged-up team. However, those closest to him know that Curry is at his best when people doubt his greatness. He acknowledged as much following a poor performance in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets, when he scored 33 points in the second half of Game 6 after being shut out in the first half.

"I've heard a lot of noise this series, for sure," Curry said. "I'll just leave it at that. Whether it's positive, negative, whatever the case is -- I know what I'm capable of."

Curry's ability to use the criticism as fuel while simultaneously not becoming a distraction for the rest of the group is something that Warriors coach Steve Kerr and his staff have long admired about the 31-year-old superstar.

"Steph's just unselfish and all about the team," Kerr said just before the start of the Finals. "And I'm sure he would love to win Finals MVP, but he's much more about the team than he is about the individual. He's proven that over and over again. And he's been amazing throughout the playoffs and we'll just keep counting on him and relying on him and we're lucky to be able to do so."

Kerr won five championships in his playing career, and each time there was no question as to who was going to win Finals MVP. Michael Jordan won it for each of Kerr's titles with the Chicago Bulls (the last three of Jordan's six Finals MVPs overall), and Duncan took home the honors for the two titles Kerr won with the San Antonio Spurs.

Jordan is in the Hall of Fame. Duncan will almost certainly join him next year, as will Curry three years after he retires, whether he wins Finals MVP or not. But Warriors guard Shaun Livingston would like to see Curry in the company of those two, and the other legends of the game, sooner rather than later.

"It would be the pinnacle, I think," he said of Curry winning the award this year. "The ultimate kind of reward in a sense of things going full circle, if you think about it. All of his sacrifices, from his contracts, to his play with Kevin [Durant] getting here and just everything."

And while the Warriors want the award for Curry, he isn't campaigning for votes.

"Honestly, I don't need anybody's validation or praise or them to hype me up as other people in the league know who I am," Curry said. "So whatever comes with that territory, that doesn't really bother me."

ESPN's Tim Bontemps contributed to this story