Barcelona believe they have lost ground to Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich in the race to sign Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt, sources have told ESPN FC.

Sources close to the negotiations said that the "optimism" which Barca maintained a few weeks ago has decreased due to the renewed interest of some of Europe's biggest clubs and the excessive demands from De Ligt and his agent, Mino Raiola.

- Valverde coy on Griezmann signing
- Carragher: Liverpool should re-sign Coutinho
- Barcelona keep or dump: Who should stay?

"We can't move any more on what we've offered," a Barcelona source told ESPN FC. "One of the things that could benefit us is the player's desire to come here, but we will see if that really is what he wants in the end."

Barcelona have been leading the chase for the in-demand centre-back for weeks. They already have an agreement in principle with Ajax to sign him for a similar figure to what they will pay for Frenkie de Jong -- €75 million plus add-ons.

But they have still not managed to strike a deal with De Ligt and Raiola, which has allowed Juve, PSG and Bayern to re-open negotiations and attempt to better the offer made by Barca, who are beginning to tire of the player's elevated financial demands.

The main problem facing Barca is Raiola's attempt to take advantage of the interest from elsewhere and De Ligt's excellent end to the season to push for a salary which the Catalan club are not prepared to pay.

De Ligt helped Ajax win a domestic double and reach the Champions League semifinal -- and that is being used as a reason to backtrack on an agreement struck with Barcelona in March and ask for more money, as revealed by ESPN FC earlier this month.

Barca are unable to meet those new demands and sources have said the club will not budge another inch from the last offer they made. They hope other factors will play in their favour, such as the player's will to move to Camp Nou, the signing of De Jong and the chance to play with Lionel Messi.

Juve's sporting director Fabio Paratici said two weeks ago that De Ligt "will sign for Barcelona" following a conversation with his Ajax counterpart, Marc Overmars. But talks between Barca and De Ligt have hit a snag and sources have suggested Juve and PSG may now be better placed to land the defender.

Barca have worked on the deal for months. After announcing the signing of De Jong in January, president Josep Maria Bartomeu made the decision to push hard for De Ligt, even though he wasn't a priority for the club at the time. Given the good relationship with Ajax, they were able to loosely agree the framework of a fee with the belief they would be able to convince the player to join.

Bartomeu himself said in an interview with ESPN FC in April that he knew what would happen with De Ligt this summer, but he could not say. Despite that, things have changed in recent weeks and the situation is not so rosy for the Blaugrana anymore.

De Ligt, before facing Juve in the Champions League quarterfinal, said that his future would be decided by Raiola. Few believed him at the time but there is now a realisation of just how much power the agent has over his client.

"Raiola is very good at what he does -- he is spectacular at seducing players and [De Ligt] is completely committed to him," a source told ESPN FC.

PSG declined to comment when asked by ESPN FC, while Raiola is unavailable due to a suspension.

Gareth Bale's agent Jonathan Barnett has told EPN FC he is relaxed over comments from Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane, where he appeared to criticise his client's attitude.

Zidane omitted Bale from two matchday squads despite the Wales international being fully fit and then left him on the bench for the entirety of the final day 2-0 home defeat to Real Betis in La Liga.

- Zidane: Bale unused sub due to bad attitude
- Modric, Benzema struggle in Betis loss

Asked after the game why he had not given Bale a chance to say goodbye, Zidane said the 29 year old's day-to-day attitude at training meant he had not deserved to play.

"I have to look at the day to day, and make decisions," Zidane said. "And when there is something I do not like, or does not fit for me, I must do what I think best.

"It might be difficult for the player -- we cannot forget all he has done here -- but I must live in the present, think of the future. We will see [if Bale stays]. I don't know what will happen, truthfully."

Asked about these comments by ESPN FC, Barnett replied: "Fine, that's his opinion."

Pushed as to whether president Florentino Perez's opinion could influence any decision over Bale's future, Barnett said the Frenchman had full say over transfer dealings.

"Zidane has complete control," Barnett said.

The Premier League summer transfer window opened just after midnight GMT on Thursday, and it promises to be a busy summer for all of the leading clubs. Who will arrive and who will leave before the 2019-20 season kicks off on Aug. 10?

We point out the players whose will-they, won't-they transfer sagas could drag on until the final minutes of the window.

-- Transfer window: When does it open and close?
-- Grades: Tracking every big summer signing

David De Gea

The Spain No. 1 is stalling on a new contract at Manchester United and could leave on a free transfer next summer. United have enquired about the availability of Atletico Madrid's Jan Oblak, so if Juventus or Paris Saint-Germain formalise their interest in De Gea, a deal could be done.

Paul Pogba

The Manchester United midfielder is likely to be at the heart of the biggest transfer saga of the summer. Real Madrid want the Frenchman, who has done nothing to play down the prospect of a move. United insist that he is not for sale, but a bid north of £100 million could tempt the club to sell.

Leroy Sane

Bayern Munich are keen to sign the Germany winger as part of their rebuild, and though City will not welcome a bid, the 23-year-old has grown frustrated with his lack of starts under Pep Guardiola. At this point, a move back to the Bundesliga this summer cannot be ruled out.

Gareth Bale

It's another summer of uncertainty for the Real Madrid winger, but while Zinedine Zidane is prepared to offload the Welshman, Bale's £600,000-a-week wages are likely to scare off most clubs. Bale will be 30 in July, so this is a huge summer for the former Tottenham man, who could struggle to find a new club.

Joao Felix

Manchester United, Manchester City and Juventus are all trailing the Benfica attacking midfielder, who, at 19, is regarded as one of the emerging stars in world football. Benfica don't want to sell, but a bidding war is likely to end with the player moving to the biggest spender.

Christian Eriksen

Real Madrid and Manchester United are both monitoring Eriksen's contract situation at Spurs, with the Dane yet to sign a new deal. Eriksen has 12 months to run on his current contract, and Spurs face the decision of whether to cash in now or risk losing him for nothing next summer.

Toby Alderweireld

The Belgian centre-half can leave for a bargain £25 million before the final two weeks of this summer's transfer window due to a clause in his contract. Alderweireld is another Manchester United target, so Spurs must negotiate a new deal quickly or risk him leaving for the knockdown fee.

Harry Maguire

The Leicester centre-half is on the radars of both Manchester City and Manchester United. Brendan Rodgers will be backed to strengthen his squad by Leicester's owners, but after refusing to push for a move to United last summer, Maguire might see this window as his time to move to one of the game's biggest clubs.

Antoine Griezmann

The Atletico Madrid forward rejected a move to Barcelona last summer, but the Spanish champions are expected to hold off Premier League interest from Chelsea and Manchester United to sign the France international this summer.

Saul Niguez

Both Manchester United and Manchester City are interested in the Atletico Madrid midfielder, but his €150 million escape clause could prove too much for fans of the 24-year-old. United are favourites to sign him if they can secure a lower fee for the Spain international.

Eden Hazard

The Chelsea forward has said he has made a decision on his future but won't reveal his intentions until after the Europa League final against Arsenal on May 28. With Hazard still stalling on a new deal and Real Madrid hovering, a move to Bernabeu is now the most likely outcome.

Matthijs De Ligt

Barcelona are the favourites to sign the 19-year-old Ajax captain, but Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United are also pursuing the centre-half. A big money offer from any of the Premier League trio could knock Barca out of the running.

Paulo Dybala

Juventus are struggling to persuade the 25-year-old Argentine that his future is in Turin, and the forward is on Manchester United's long list of targets, especially with the emergence of Moise Kean as a preferred attacking option. Juve remain keen on moves for David de Gea and Pogba, so Dybala could be used to land either of those top targets.

Philippe Coutinho

The Brazilian has become unsettled at Barcelona after being the target of intense criticism by the club's supporters. Barca are prepared to sell the former Liverpool man but will want to recoup a large chunk of the £142 million fee paid to sign him from Anfield in January 2018.

Jadon Sancho

Manchester United have a long-standing interest in the England winger, who has emerged as one of Europe's hottest properties in his two seasons at Borussia Dortmund. The German outfit rated Sancho in the £100 million bracket, which means United could be forced to spend on other areas.

Carlos Soler

Tottenham have been tracking the Valencia midfielder all season, but Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain have emerged as rivals for the 22-year-old's signature. Mauricio Pochettino is determined to strengthen his squad this summer and has identified Soler has a key target.

Romelu Lukaku

Inter Milan have shown an interest in the Manchester United forward, who has admitted his desire to play in Serie A in the future. Lukaku has been in and out of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's starting team, so a move could happen if United are able to find a proven replacement.

Nabil Fekir

Liverpool abandoned a move for the Lyon midfielder due to a failed medical last summer, but the France international has proven his fitness this season and is attracting the interest of Juventus instead.

Australia's attention turned to spin in their build-up to the Men's World Cup, with Adam Zampa and Nathan Lyon the focus of the second training session in London. While Australia's bowling strength in the 50-over format has undoubtedly been pace in the post-Shane Warne era, legspinner Zampa believes spin will play a key role in their upcoming campaign and revealed how he and Lyon - who were both part of Australia's recent eight-game undefeated streak against India and Pakistan - have worked closely on their partnership.

"I think it was a few months ago where we actually spoke to each other and said, 'I reckon we can play a huge role coming up in the World Cup together so let's do everything we can to make sure we're both there'," Zampa said. "So we've communicated really well over the last few months. We speak a lot in the nets, we speak a lot in the field, just about whatever - anything - spin bowling, field settings or how the ball's going to come out. Just anything. So we communicate a lot and really well."

Zampa, who averages 35.45 at a strike rate of 38.00, has been the first-choice spinner for Australia in ODIs after a string of options were used with varying success while Lyon, who came to prominence in T20 cricket after a breakout season with South Australia, has been preferred in Test cricket and has often been overlooked in white-ball formats. But while Australia rarely opt for two spinners outside the subcontinent, Zampa believes that could change in England.

"It's definitely going to play a role with the smaller grounds," Zampa said. "I think the way we have been playing lately, we've been loading up a little bit towards the back end, so to have those wickets in hand is really important. So I guess stopping the [opposition] spinners from getting wickets in the middle overs is really important and obviously vice versa for us, for me and Nath to bowl well.

"I love playing with Nath. We play two different roles. He's so accurate, beautiful offspinner. Bowls to his field really well, bowls really tight, and it means I can attack from the other end. So I really, really like bowling with 'Gaz'. I think it's going to play a huge role for us sometime throughout the World Cup. I don't know if it will be every game but I definitely see us playing a huge role together."

Zampa was overlooked for Australia's ODI tour of England in 2018, which they lost 5-0, but picked up a contract playing T20 cricket in The Blast for Essex, an experience he hopes to draw from in the coming months.

"I absolutely loved my time there," he said. "It was really tough and I think the added pressure of being an overseas player, you've got to really perform. So I found playing under those conditions and that pressure really good for me. Small ground. Chelmsford is probably the smallest ground in the world if you've ever been there, so yeah, that was enjoyable."

As the role of spin has developed in ODI cricket, so has Australia's use of spinners. Zampa believes he has more licence to be attacking during the middle overs under captain Aaron Finch, even if it means leaking runs. That's the kind of confidence he admires in the England camp and he views Adil Rashid as something of a role model.

"Adil Rashid is someone that, you know, I could almost base my career around his," Zampa said. "He's been in and out of the team when he was a lot younger, he's probably a little bit of a different bowler than I am but England have really backed him in. From looking from afar they've almost said to him, 'you're playing every game for the next couple of years until the World Cup is over.' So he goes 1 for 80, 3 for 80, he's a genuine wicket-taker for England and he's probably had some ups and downs in his career too, but he's someone I've really enjoyed watching bowl and he's had a lot of success in England."

Australia's first World Cup match is against Afghanistan in Bristol, a match that will likely pit Zampa against another player he admires and has observed closely, Rashid Khan. The pair spent time together during the most recent BBL series in a session that Zampa found both informative and humbling.

"I had a bowl with Rash after a [Melbourne] Stars versus [Adelaide] Strikers game this year and I was always intrigued with Rash," Zampa said. "I was like, 'I love watching this guy so I'm going to pull him aside and have a bowl with him' and, to his credit, he spent about 45 minutes with me and at the end of it I was so glad I did that because now I know that I would never ever be able to bowl like Rashid Khan."

Perhaps not, but Australia will undoubtedly hope that bowling like Adam Zampa is good enough to help them win a World Cup.

Western Australia have handed a rookie contract to emerging batsman Jayden Goodwin, the son of former Zimbabwe and WA batsman Murray Goodwin, despite the 17-year-old not having played any grade cricket in Perth.

Jayden represented WA in the Futures League and Under-17s last season, and also played for the Cricket Australia Under-17 XI in the Australian Under-19s championships. Jayden lives in Bunbury, three hours south of Perth, and is yet to play grade cricket in Perth, which has been the more traditional pathway into the state squad.

Murray had an outstanding career for the Warriors and was a key part of their success in the late 1990s before he played international cricket for Zimbabwe. Like his father, Jayden also bowls a little bit of legspin. The father-son duo even played together in the Premiership for Colts Cricket Club in Bunbury last season with Jayden opening the batting and Murray coming in at No. 4.

Jayden is one of three new faces added to a largely settled squad. WA have also contracted 18-year-old New South Wales batsman Sam Fanning, who made a century for Australian Under-19s against Sri Lanka in January. Bradley Hope has also been handed a rookie contract after making his Sheffield Shield debut following a dominant grade season with Claremont-Nedlands.

Aaron Hardie, who rose to prominence when he dismissed Virat Kohli in a tour game last season, was upgraded to a full contract after making his Sheffield Shield debut last summer.

Former Australia Under-19 captain Will Bosisto has been cut from the Warriors squad despite scoring a Shield century last summer. Veteran batsman Jonathan Wells and allrounders Clint Hinchcliffe and Tim David have also missed out on new deals. Young fast bowler Alex Bevilacqua, meanwhile, has moved to Tasmania.

Western Australia's Men's 2019-20 squad: Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Jake Carder, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Cameron Green, Liam Guthrie, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kelly, Simon Mackin, Mitch Marsh, Shaun Marsh, David Moody, Joel Paris, Josh Philippe, Jhye Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Sam Whiteman

Rookies Sam Fanning, Jayden Goodwin, Bradley Hope, Lance Morris, Matthew Spoors

Pakistan have not quite hit the panic button yet, but in adding Wahab Riaz to their World Cup squad two years after his last ODI and a year after Mickey Arthur seemingly signalled the end of the pacer's career, they have indicated growing alarm at the steep decline in their bowling performances.

On Monday, chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq announced Wahab's surprise return, as well as the slightly less surprising additions of Mohammad Amir and Asif Ali, to Pakistan's 15-man squad for the World Cup. Junaid Khan, Faheem Ashraf and Abid Ali are the players culled from the provisional squad announced a month ago.

Why Wahab?

Wahab's last ODI appearance came as far back as on June 4, 2017, in the group stage game against India in the Champions Trophy, when Pakistan suffered a heavy defeat. He wasn't a part of the playing XI for Pakistan in their run to the trophy following that reversal.

He has played 17 List A games since then, taking 27 wickets at an average of 28.40 with an economy rate of 5.18. Ten of those wickets have come in five games this year, at an average of 20.70 and economy of 4.60, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's title run in the Pakistan Cup 50-over tournament.

More than those numbers, it seems to have been Wahab's ability to generate reverse swing - and Pakistan's poor form with the ball in England - that has swayed the selectors' opinion.

"Whatever you plan, you keep the room to review it as well," Inzamam said in Lahore. "I don't compromise on the team's requirements. If he (Wahab) wasn't originally picked in the squad, it didn't mean that he had been discarded forever.

"I understand he wasn't close to the 23 probables named for the World Cup, but no one is in the squad without a reason. The rationale behind bringing him back is his ability to reverse swing the ball. Nobody expected the pitches in the UK to be flat even in the early season there (during the recent ODI series against England). So we have realised that and reviewed our selection.

"We need to have bowlers who are good with the old ball and can defy the conditions and also have experience under their belt. Wahab has played in Tests recently and he was dropped on the basis of his form. But he did well in domestic cricket," explained Inzamam. "But it was the requirement of the team and the conditions there in England, which have changed drastically.

"Bringing him in doesn't reflect any panic, but it's a decision purely based on the requirement."

The comeback of Amir

Amir didn't - or couldn't - take part in any of the ODIs against England. He missed four of the five games with chickenpox but such has been the sense of worry following Pakistan's bowling in the series, it was almost certain that Amir's experience would see him return.

Pakistan conceded 373 for 3, 359 for 4 (in 44.5 overs), 341 for 7 (in 49.3 overs), and 351 for 9 across the four completed games. Mickey Arthur, the coach, pointed to the fielding lapses as the team's biggest concern after the series, but added that "our bowling has been average at best."

That has come on the back of a longer-term slip in bowling form, paralleling Amir's own dip since the Champions Trophy two years ago. In his last ten ODI appearances, Amir has picked up just two wickets at an unflattering average of 148.50, though he has usually kept things tight. In 14 ODIs since the final of the Champions Trophy, his economy rate has been an excellent 4.58, though if games against Zimbabwe and Hong Kong are taken out, it goes up to 5.28.

"If you analyse the series, if the Pakistan bowlers were punished, so were the England bowlers," Inzamam said. "So whatever the conditions, we need experienced bowlers, and Amir is very much ahead of every bowler we have. He was originally never discarded either, but we kept him with the team for the England series."

On the two pacers who were left out, Inzamam said, "Junaid and Faheem are dropped but that doesn't mean they are not good. But we think players like Amir and Wahab are more suitable for these conditions, which is why we have preferred them."

Pakistan did utilise the 30 days the teams had been given - April 23 to May 23 - to make changes. They had named a 17-man squad for the England series and also carried Mohammad Hafeez while he was still recovering from injury. Hafeez missed the initial games but played the last two ODIs, scoring 59 in the first of them.

Pakistan are, however, missing a reserve wicketkeeper behind captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, but Inzamam confirmed that Mohammad Rizwan would stay on in England and fill in in case of an injury.

"I see my team at No. 1," Inzamam said. "I am sure all teams are working hard for the World Cup, but I think Pakistan have the capability to win the World Cup."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

Asif Ali will play in the World Cup despite the death of his daughter on Sunday. Asif was called up to Pakistan's 15-man squad for the World Cup on Monday, having missed out on the original squad a month ago.

He was selected on the back of some impressive performances during the England series, where two fifties contributed to a total of 142 runs (in four innings) but, more importantly, at a strike rate of 131.48. Those runs, and the speed at which they came, filled a gaping hole in Pakistan's middle order, which has long cried out for a power-hitter of Asif's capabilities.

But the joy of his selection would have been drowned out by the tragic news of his 19-month-old daughter passing away in the United States of America on Sunday, after a fairly long battle against illness.

Asif will exit the squad for now, and arrangements are being made for him to travel to the US if needed. But at the moment, he is scheduled to be back for Pakistan's World Cup campaign, which begins with a game against West Indies on May 31 at Trent Bridge.

"Dropping Abid Ali [to make way for Asif's selection] was a very difficult decision," Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan's chief selector, said on Monday. "But we needed a power-hitter at number 6 or 7 and Asif has done very well for us in this England series so we need him.

"He is scheduled to be back in time for our warm-up games where we intend to play our full-strength XI, but if he cannot make it back in time for those, we will wait for him whenever he does return."

Abid was the third opener in the provisional World Cup squad, back up for Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman, but Inzamam said that with either of Mohammad Hafeez or Haris Sohail - who are both in the squad - could also be options if another opener was needed.

TORONTO -- These are the nights when Giannis Antetokounmpo frets.

Through the first three quarters of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals, Antetokounmpo scored just six points. He finished with 12 total. He missed two key free throws in the first overtime and fouled out less than a minute into the second overtime. He committed eight turnovers in all.

The Milwaukee Bucks lost to the Toronto Raptors 118-112. The Bucks now lead the series 2-1. Antetokounmpo doesn't accept performances like that. He is as allergic to losing as teammate Khris Middleton is to pine nuts.

"It is a culture we've built as a team," Antetokounmpo told ESPN after the game. "We don't like losing. We know we are two games away from the NBA Finals. We cannot jump steps. We have to do it a game at a time, a play at a time, a day at a time."

A younger Antetokounmpo would not have taken a shower after a game like this. Rookie Antetokounmpo would've stormed out of the locker room -- still dressed in his soiled, sweaty uniform -- and returned to some gym somewhere to practice his missed shots.

But that was then.

Now, Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer has made it clear to his star player that he must save his body. So, instead of replaying each mistake on the court after a poor performance, he does a mental replay. He stares at the stat sheet in silence, reliving the turnovers and air-balled 3-pointers. He skips going to the media room podium to speak after playoff losses -- preferring to address reporters in front of his locker. Sunday was no exception.

Antetokounmpo gazed at the stat sheet, his phone and the wall for more than 15 minutes as his feet soaked in a tub of icy water.

"It is good -- that means he is hungry," Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe said. "If you don't feel bad when you play bad, you don't need to be playing this game."

The trouble for Antetokounmpo started early. In the first quarter, he committed two turnovers, he scored just two points and the Raptors jumped out to an early double-digit lead. It didn't get prettier in the second quarter. Antetokounmpo coughed up the ball two more times, and at the half, the Bucks were down by seven. Every time Milwaukee cut into Toronto's lead, the Raptors would go on a run. The Bucks couldn't catch up.

There was a flurry of excitement late as the Bucks tied the game and forced overtime. Then another overtime.

Antetokounmpo watched the majority of the second and final overtime from the bench after fouling out. When Toronto star Kawhi Leonard laid the ball in off the glass with 32 seconds left to give the Raptors a four-point lead, Antetokounmpo sauntered over to the bench with a towel over his head and took a seat, seemingly deflated.

Antetokounmpo's performance wasn't the only thing that went wrong for the Bucks. None of the Bucks starters played particularly well in overtime. In the first extended period, the Bucks' bench scored all seven of the team's points. Bledsoe missed a key free throw late in the game.

Bledsoe, Middleton and Antetokounmpo combined for 32 points in the game. The trio shot just 13 percent from 3-point range and 23 percent from the field, and they had a collective 16 turnovers.

"We could've been up 3-0," Antetokounmpo said of the series tally. "We didn't play well. ... I never expected this series to be easy."

Antetokounmpo was the last player to leave the locker room Sunday night. He sat in front of his locker, sipping a blue Gatorade and answering questions from lingering reporters. When asked if he was disappointed in how he played in Game 3, though, he stood up.

"Hell no," Antetokounmpo told ESPN, pushing himself up from the locker bench. He began to walk away, before turning back around and explaining further.

"I am Giannis," Antetokounmpo said, putting his hand on his chest. "What I have done in my life so far -- sending money to my family, put my brothers in private schools, taking care of family in Nigeria and Greece. Disappointed in a game? I'd be disappointed in myself if I was disappointed."

In other words: It is just basketball. Antetokounmpo knows it. That doesn't make him crave winning any less.

On the back wall of the visiting locker room, an 8-by-11-inch piece of white paper had been taped to the wall. Antetokounmpo had written "6" on it with a black marker. The paper counts down the number of wins the Bucks need to capture the NBA championship.

For now, the number will stay at six.

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.