TORONTO -- So much of this season for Kawhi Leonard has been spent on the topic of load management.

Well, load management went out the window Sunday night.

With his Toronto Raptors' season on the line, Leonard played a career-high 52 minutes -- almost all of them coming after he landed awkwardly on a layup in the first quarter. And he put up his latest stellar line, finishing with 36 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists to lead Toronto to a 118-112 victory in double overtime against the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.

The win got the Raptors back into the series, as they now trail 2-1 in this best-of-seven affair -- thanks mostly to Leonard's latest heroics, which came exactly a week after he kept Toronto's season alive here with his miraculous buzzer-beater to close out the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 7 of the conference semifinals.

"He loves this game of basketball," Raptors guard Kyle Lowry told ESPN after Sunday's contest. "That's what that was. He loves basketball. To play hurt, play through anything to get wins, that's what that proved tonight."

The topic of just how hurt Leonard was never went away after he landed off-kilter in the first quarter and came back down the court hopping on one leg. It appeared at that time his left leg was bothering him -- only for him to, far later in the tilt, grab at his right leg after he ran downcourt and skied for a massive left-handed fast-break slam with 3 minutes, 13 seconds remaining in the second overtime.

After the game, though, the Raptors downplayed any issues. Toronto coach Nick Nurse said he thought Leonard was "OK," and Leonard himself dismissed any reason to expect him to miss time in this series.

"I'm good," he said. "I'm just going to keep fighting. I'm going to be playing."

He did admit that it took a toll on him to play those career-high minutes and drag the Raptors to victory.

"Definitely," Leonard said, when asked if it felt like he had logged that much time. "It's 52 minutes, and it's the playoffs, so you definitely feel it. When you play 30 minutes, you feel it still.

"Just got to not worry about it and get my treatment and move on to the next one."

When Lowry fouled out midway through the fourth quarter, it was fair to wonder if there would be a relevant "next one" at all, given that a loss would have put Toronto in a 3-0 hole in the series.

The Raptors led for virtually all of regulation, and almost all of both overtimes, but did so while getting almost all of their points from five players: Leonard, Pascal Siakam (25), Marc Gasol (19), Norman Powell (19) and Lowry (11).

By the end of regulation, though, Lowry and Powell had both fouled out, leaving Nurse to scramble and play Fred VanVleet and Danny Green for the overtimes -- during which each hit their first, and only, shots of the game, both from behind the 3-point line. (VanVleet was 1-for-11 from the field, and Green was 1-for-9.)

Lowry, meanwhile, spent at least half the time in his customary seat on the end of the bench, often doing anything but looking at the court as his teammates tried to keep their season alive without him.

"I wasn't [watching]," Lowry told ESPN. "I was just trying to will the ball in and will their ball out. But when you believe in my teammates like I do, you've just got to support them and do everything you can possibly do.

"That's the one thing about it. It f---ing sucked. But we won, so it really is all that matters."

That the Raptors did triumph was, as usual, in large part down to Leonard. While Nurse didn't change up his starting lineup, he did alter both rotations and defensive assignments -- including having Leonard spend far more time on the NBA's presumptive most valuable player, Giannis Antetokounmpo, than he did in the first two games.

After defending him on just three shots through the first two games, Antetokounmpo went 1-for-9 and scored two points when guarded by Leonard in Game 3, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. When Antetokounmpo went up against anyone else, he was 4-for-7 and scored 10 points.

"Listen, I think Kawhi is the best two-way basketball player in the NBA," Lowry told ESPN. "I personally believe that.

"And when you have a guy like that, who can do the things he can do defensively, and offensively, you put him on the best player when you need to."

The Raptors needed to, and it worked. Antetokounmpo eventually fouled out in the second overtime trying to draw a charge on Siakam, ending his night with 12 points, 23 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 blocks and 8 turnovers.

It also was a bounce-back performance from Siakam (25 points, 11 rebounds and 3 steals) and Gasol (16 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 blocks) after both had struggled in the first two games of the series.

It was Siakam's two missed free throws at the end of regulation, however, that gave Milwaukee's Khris Middleton a chance to tie the game in the dying seconds and send it to overtime.

When the game was over, though, and the victory in hand, Leonard wasn't tired enough to avoid giving his teammate a hard time.

"[I told him,] 'Damn near played an hour of basketball tonight,'" Leonard said with a smile. "He was like, 'My bad, Kawhi. I'll make those two free throws next time.'"

On this night, though, it was no harm, no foul for Toronto. That's because, for the latest time this season, and the second time in a week, Leonard willed the Raptors to a win.

Now, they just might need him to do so again three times in the next four games if they are to make it to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.

"I just want to win," Leonard said. "That's it. Nobody wants to go home. We want to keep striving and reach that goal, and that's it.

"That's why I pride myself on [playing] both ends of the floor, and this is what happens."

TORONTO -- Nothing in the NBA playoffs goes off as planned.

Lineup rotations can be tweaked and defensive coverages can be refined, but no matter how much preparation has been performed, the crucial minutes of a playoff game are nothing more than a desperate exercise in survival. Every possession is a fire drill, and few of them resemble the inspired plays drawn up on crisp whiteboards by basketball brainiacs when all is at peace.

For the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night, fighting for their postseason lives, unforeseen circumstances were the norm. Kawhi Leonard landed awkwardly in the first quarter with questions swirling throughout the game about his condition.

Their starting point guard, Kyle Lowry, fouled out of the game with more than six minutes remaining in regulation. Their most productive offensive guard in Game 3 was reserve Norman Powell -- and he fouled out five minutes later. That left the Raptors with a backcourt of Danny Green and Fred VanVleet, who had shot a collective 2-for-20 on the night. With seven seconds remaining in regulation, Pascal Siakam -- a 78.5 percent shooter at the line this season -- had an opportunity to secure the win with a pair of free throws but missed both.

Despite the persistent foul trouble, and squandering leads of four points with about 70 seconds remaining in both the fourth quarter and the first overtime, the Raptors leaned on Leonard and a feisty defense to outlast the Milwaukee Bucks 118-112 in double overtime of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.

The greater the stakes on a given possession, the less artful the play from both teams. With Lowry on the bench, the Raptors were without their game manager for the final 16 minutes of action. "It was f---ing terrible to watch," Lowry said of having to watch the game unfold as a spectator.

Meanwhile, Bucks starting point guard Eric Bledsoe struggled during his minutes on the court, as did de facto point guard Giannis Antetokounmpo, who fouled out in the opening minutes of the second overtime. Khris Middleton, who suffered a series of miscues with the game in the balance, also had a forgettable night.

Ultimately, the Raptors won as they've typically won this spring -- on the shoulders of Leonard. He finished with 36 points, including scoring Toronto's final three field goals and eight of their last 10 points in double overtime.

"His resilience," Marc Gasol said. "He didn't allow his fatigue, his pain, whatever it was that was bothering him -- he beat it."

Leonard has been the one constant for a Toronto team whose individual performers have been variable for the better part of three weeks. The Raptors escaped the Philadelphia 76ers thanks to Leonard's theatrics a week ago with a 4-3 series win, but the historic shot -- the squat, the four bounces and all the rest of it -- occurred during a cold-shooting snap that has confounded the Raptors for days.

The two losses in Milwaukee to begin the conference finals exacerbated a tension that's familiar in a game in which probabilities rule -- but not always justly. Coming into Game 3, the Raptors had compiled just a 52.1 effective field goal percentage on uncontested shots since the start of the Philadelphia series after ranking second in the NBA (a 68.1 percent eFG) in uncontested attempts during the regular season.

For the Raptors' regulars and their coach, Nick Nurse, balancing faith in a team's longstanding success against the cruelty of recent results is a difficult task in the postseason. How do you respond when a group of players who drained uncontested shots at a higher rate than all but one other NBA team loses that touch over three chilly weeks? Do you make wholesale changes in your rotation and offensive approach even if, as the NBA axiom goes, you'd take those same shots tomorrow night?

On Sunday night, Nurse split the difference. He maintained the Raptors' usual starting lineup, yet tinkered with the rotation and flipped some defensive assignments. Most prominently, Leonard was handed the hefty assignment of Antetokounmpo -- and the results were impressive.

"Kawhi did a great job," Nurse said. "He was up and not giving him quite as much runway to get flying off of. But so were the other guys that ended up on him in a switch or in different parts of the game. They were all a little bit more locked in. We took steps forward to get physical."

Antetokounmpo recorded more turnovers than field goals in Game 3 and was only 1-for-9 from the field on possessions for which Leonard served as his primary defender. Leonard wasn't the only resistance encountered by Antetokounmpo, who saw multiple bodies on catches near the basket. The Raptors helped and recovered with precision, yielding only 10 uncontested looks in the half court in 58 minutes to a team that puts a premium on spacing.

But the most profound difference for Toronto in its first victory of the series was the factor that had been most detrimental in its losses:

The Raptors simply hit their uncontested shot attempts.

In Game 3, the Raptors actually performed worse at finding quality looks at the basket. Their quantified shot probability (a stat by Second Spectrum that measures the quality of shots taking into account both the shooter and the defense) was lower than their marks for Game 1 and Game 2 in Milwaukee.

But for the first time in a good while, the Raptors were their old selves on uncontested attempts: 11-for-21 from the field, with an effective field goal percentage of 66.7, much more in line with their strong regular-season performance.

After the game, Nurse was asked whether the team had adopted a new identity in the playoffs, something more akin to grit-and-grind, the calling card for Gasol's more rugged, less offensively dynamic Memphis teams. While most any NBA coach would take pride in a team that has established an identity around a stingy defense, Nurse noted that after acquiring Gasol, the Raptors led the NBA in 3-point percentage, a condition that almost seems prehistoric given the events of the past month.

"I still think we're creating a lot of good shots," said Nurse, who has been steadfast in his belief that the basketball gods will eventually correct this peculiar disparity, as they began to on Sunday night. "I'm still hoping some more of them go in. I think they will."

In the meantime, the Raptors narrowed the series and now trail 2-1 -- a series can't be any closer after three games.

What started off as a tough spring for Tim Tebow with the Mets' Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse, New York, took a turn for the better Sunday when he hit his first International League home run.

It came in his 105th at-bat of the season, and the former Heisman Trophy winner didn't exactly receive a hero's welcome when he returned to the dugout.

At least not at first.

Tebow's teammates largely gave him the silent treatment before the celebration at NBT Bank Stadium began in earnest.

Tebow went 1-for-4 in an 8-2 home loss to Columbus, lifting his batting average to .157. He has 11 RBIs on the season. He has a hit in seven of his past nine games.

On Thursday, he told The Associated Press that he was unfazed by his slow start.

"I think I'm improving. I'm working, developing,'' Tebow said. "I think I'm getting better, adapting to some really good players, and I think that's important.''

Tebow's average was at .130 after the team's first 23 games before his productivity increased of late, a stretch that he said has helped with his confidence as he's found more of a rhythm at the plate.

"I think sometimes if you're not in rhythm, you can press a little bit, swing at pitches you don't want to swing at," Tebow said. "But when you're in a rhythm, it just flows a little bit better. I think that's important.''

Syracuse Mets manager Tony DeFrancesco told The Associated Press that the move from Double-A to the top rung of the minor leagues has proved daunting.

"Double-A pitching is a lot of younger guys that have good velocity on the fastball but no secondary pitches,'' DeFrancesco said. "Here, Tim is seeing everything coming at him but the kitchen sink. They're throwing fastballs hard in on him, they're breaking balls, they're elevating. He just hasn't seen enough of that right now -- and they're throwing strikes.''

DeFrancesco said Tebow's recent surge has been encouraging and he was hoping that the power production would arrive after Tebow had six homers and 36 RBIs in 271 at-bats in Double-A before an injury ended his season after 84 games.

"He's playing a corner position in baseball, which is offensive production, so he's going to definitely need to drive some home runs soon," his manager said. "Getting into June, you've got to be able to put up the numbers.''

Sunday was a step in the right direction, and DeFrancesco pointed out that Tebow is only in his third professional season. He knows Tebow might not yet be ready for Triple-A, but he isn't writing him off by any means.

"It's just going to take maybe a little more time. He's not the first guy, if it doesn't work this year, come back to Triple-A again," DeFrancesco said. "There's been numerous players that have two, three years of Triple-A. Just look at my baseball card. I've got three or four at Triple-A. It's not that easy, and I played my whole life. So give the kid some time and some credit. It's definitely a work in progress.''

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

INDIANAPOLIS – A week after a stunning victory in the IndyCar Grand Prix, Simon Pagenaud continued his impressive month of May by winning the pole for the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500.

The seventh driver to take time during the Fast Nine Shootout Sunday afternoon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pagenaud placed his No. 22 Team Penske Chevrolet on the pole thanks to a four-lap average of 229.992 mph.

“It’s just amazing,” Pagenaud said in the moments after officially earning the pole. “Thank you to Team Chevy and Menards. It is incredible to be able to bring this for John (Menard). Obviously last week was amazing, but this is even more special.

“This, this is incredible,” Pagenaud added. “This is the biggest race in the world so obviously I’m on cloud nine.”

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Ed Carpenter, in search of his fourth Indianapolis 500 pole, came up just short with a four-lap average of 229.889 mph. Spencer Pigot, who ended Saturday as the fastest competitor of the 36 who attempted to qualify, took the last spot on the front row for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing with a 229.826 mph lap in his Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet.

“It was flat (out) all four laps. That’s kind of all we can do,” Pigot said.

Ed Jones will lead the second row thanks to a 229.646 mph four-lap average in the ECR/Scuderia Corsa Chevrolet. Colton Herta was the fastest Honda in the field, qualifying fifth for Harding-Steinbrenner Racing at 229.086 mph. Will Power, the defending Indianapolis 500 winner, was sixth at 228.645 mph.

Sebastian Bourdais (228.621 mph), Josef Newgarden (228.396 mph) and Alexander Rossi (228.247 mph) qualified seventh through ninth, respectively.

Pagenaud’s pole is the 18th in the history of Team Penske at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500. He’ll now try to give team owner Roger Penske his 18th victory in the Indianapolis 500 on May 26.

“Just being able to get a pole under my belt here at the speedway is very amazing, but the goal is to win the race,” Pagenaud said.

This report will be updated.

Below is the starting lineup for the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500, scheduled to take place May 26, 2019 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Ind.

Row 1

1. (22) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 229.992 mph

2. (20) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 229.889 mph

3. (21) Spencer Pigot, Chevrolet, 229.826 mph

Row 2

4. (63) Ed Jones, Chevrolet, 229.646 mph

5. (88) Colton Herta, Honda, 229.086 mph

6. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet 228.645 mph

Row 3

7. (18) Sebastien Bourdais, Honda, 228.621 mph

8. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 228.396 mph

9. (27) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 228.247 mph

Row 4

10. (98) Marco Andretti, Honda, 228.756 mph

11. (25) Conor Daly, Honda, 228.617 mph

12. (3) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 228.523 mph

Row 5

13. (7) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 228.511 mph

14. (30) Takuma Sato, Honda, 228.300 mph

15. (33) James Davison, Honda, 228.273 mph

Row 6

16. (14) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 228.120 mph

17. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 228.104 mph

18. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 228.100 mph

Row 7

19. (77) Oriol Servia, Honda, 227.991 mph

20. (23) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 227.915 mph

21. (48) J.R. Hildebrand, Chevrolet, 227.908 mph

Row 8

22. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 227.877 mph

23. (19) Santino Ferrucci, Honda, 227.731 mph

24. (4) Matheus Leist, Chevrolet, 227.717 mph

Row 9

25. (60) Jack Harvey, Honda, 227.695 mph

26. (42) Jordan King, Honda, 227.502 mph

27. (81) Ben Hanley, Chevrolet, 227.482 mph

Row 10

28. (26) Zach Veach, Honda, 227.341 mph

29. (10) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 227.297 mph

30. (39) Pippa Mann, Chevrolet, 227.244 mph

Row 11

31. (24) Sage Karam, Chevrolet, 227.740 mph

32. (5) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 227.543 mph

33. (32) Kyle Kaiser, Chevrolet, 227.372 mph

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario – TRG/The Racers Group driver Spencer Pumpelly, behind the wheel of his Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR, won Sunday afternoon’s Pirelli GT4 America Sprint series race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

The 50-minute, 35-lap contest featured fierce action right from the start. Saturday’s race winner and second-starter Nicolai Elghanayan got the jump on pole sitter Pumpelly to take the lead through turn one. Pumpelly then passed Elghanayan through turns nine and 10 only to relinquish the lead once again on lap two through turn three.

Before lap two could be completed, Pumpelly then re-passed for the lead while Gar Robinson and Ian James moved past Elghanayan who started to fall back into the pack. Am division driver Jarett Andretti led in class and was fifth overall.

The leaders held their positions until lap nine when Andretti gained two position up into third. Also, on a charge up from 8th, three-time series champion Michael Cooper moved up to fourth. By lap 13, Andretti continued his charge moving up to second overall.

By lap 14 the top-five were Pumpelly, Andretti, Robinson, Cooper and James. While Andretti led the Am division, Drew Staveley ran ninth overall, second in the Am class.

Cooper continued his charge on lap 20 moving past Robinson to slot into 3rd. James then moved past Robinson on lap 22 through turns three to move into fourth. By lap 25 Andretti started to close on Pumpelly reducing the gap to .325 seconds. On lap 27 Andretti moved side-by-side with Pumpelly through turn eight but the driver of the No. 66 machine defended well holding on to maintain the lead.

With under 10 minutes remaining in the contest, battles behind Pumpelly ensued as Andretti and Cooper dueled on lap 31. James then passed Cooper for third on lap 31, only to have Cooper re-pass him. The battles allowed Pumpelly to gap the group behind him.

At the checkered, Pumpelly crossed the line in first by 1.4 seconds. Cooper finished second, James third, Stacy fourth and Andretti fifth, first in the Am class.