Despite the losses, Wales have scored almost twice as many points in the Six Nations as they had at this stage in last year's tournament.

Trailfinders player Cox is evidently enjoying life under Lynn, having gained more metres than every other player in the Six Nations except England stars Ellie Kildunne and Abby Dow.

Only Italy's Sara Tounesi has made more offloads than Dow, who is also the only player with more linebreaks than Cox.

The Wales speedster opened the scoring against Ireland last Sunday before Hannah Bluck followed. It was the first time the backs had scored all of Wales' points since they faced Italy last summer.

"Out attack is much more varied now and I'm really enjoying being involved far more," said Cox.

"In the past we've relied heavily on our forwards to score tries but that's not rugby. You need an all-round game and that's a big positive for us.

"We've been given freedom to give things a go, try new combinations and moves without fear of failing as we build to the World Cup."

The Italy fixture is to be rearranged due to the funeral of Pope Francis.

The two teams were due to meet in Parma at lunchtime on Saturday, 26 April in the final round of the tournament, but the Pope's funeral will take place at 10:00 local time (09:00 BST) that day.

Tournament organisers have yet to confirm when - or where - the game will now go ahead.

Oilers forward Evander Kane could make his season debut in the Western Conference first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said Tuesday.

Kane, 33, has not played since Game 2 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final on June 10 against the eventual champion Florida Panthers, who won in seven games. He had surgery on Sept. 20 to repair two torn hip adductor muscles, two hernias and two torn lower abdominal muscles. He also had arthroscopic knee surgery on Jan. 9.

A day after a hectic 6-5 loss in the opener, the Oilers meet with reporters in Los Angeles. They trail the Kings 1-0 in the best-of-seven series, with Game 2 scheduled for Wednesday in Los Angeles.

"Kane is a possibility of coming back, whether that's for Game 2, Game 3 or Game 4," said Knoblauch, who saw his team trail 4-0 Monday night in Game 1 before a furious rally tied the game at 5-5. "But it should be soon."

The coach said Kane has not been cleared by doctors but he expects to see him play at some point in the series -- though targeting Game 2 "is a little premature."

"I think Evander looks better today than he did in the (Cup) Final series against Florida," Knoblauch said. "He's skating better, he's moving better, his agility, all that stuff. He looks more explosive. Yeah, it's very difficult for a player to come back after a long stretch (out), but I think Evander has a little bit of an X-factor."

Kane, recorded 44 points (24 goals, 20 assists) in 77 games during the regular season in 2023-24 and eight points (four goals, four assists) in 20 playoff games.

He has totaled 617 points (326 goals, 291 assists) in 930 career regular-season games with the Atlanta/Winnipeg franchise (2009-15), Buffalo Sabres (2015-18), San Jose Sharks (2018-21) and Oilers. He was selected by the Thrashers with the fourth overall pick of the 2009 NHL Draft.

Knoblauch also said that defenseman John Klingberg (lower-body injury) is "very close" to returning to the lineup after missing the last 10 games of the regular season and the 6-5 loss to the Kings in Game 1 on Monday.

"Yes, he definitely can be a player for us coming in Game 2," Knoblauch said. "Whether we make that decision tomorrow, but I would say we will see him at some point in the series."

Klingberg, 32, signed as a free agent with Edmonton on Jan. 17. He has not played since March 27 in a 6-1 loss to the host Seattle Kraken. Klingberg has one goal, three assists, eight penalty minutes, 13 blocks and five hits in 11 games this season.

He has 82 goals and 416 career points with 263 penalty minutes, 761 blocks and 434 hits in 644 regular-season games for the Dallas Stars (2014-22), Anaheim Ducks (2022-23), Minnesota Wild (2023), Toronto Maple Leafs (2023-24) and Oilers.

Information from Field Level Media was used in this report.

Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh stated the obvious: The 6-2 humbling they suffered against the arch-rival Florida Panthers on Tuesday night was not how they wanted to begin the latest Battle of Florida.

"It's definitely a salty feeling in here. We didn't have a great start to this series like we talked about," the veteran said. "But we know we can be better. We've got another level and we'll find a way to get to that."

The Panthers took a 1-0 series lead by scoring six times on 16 shots against Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. After Sam Bennett and Jake Guentzel traded goals in the first period, the Panthers scored four straight times -- including goals by Nate Schmidt and Matthew Tkachuk that were 14 seconds apart in the second period. Schmidt's goal was unsuccessfully challenged for goalie interference by the Lightning, earning a delay of game penalty. Tkachuk scored on the ensuing power play to make it 4-1.

"Yeah, you've got to stop that bleeding," defenseman Victor Hedman said. "We give up that third one. The challenge that didn't go our way and we give up one right away. That's tough, but we got to make sure it stops there and not give up the fifth one as well."

Tkachuk, returning to the Florida lineup for the first time after being injured in February's 4 Nations Face-Off, scored his second of the game on the power play at 9:44 of the second period to make it 5-1 for the Panthers, en route to the 6-2 rout.

"You see him being able to step into a game and be impactful," Schmidt said of Tkachuk. "That's who he is. He's a playoff player."

Lightning coach Jon Cooper, who has won two of the three Battle of Florida playoff series against the Panthers, appreciated his team's effort despite the result.

"I love this team. They try. They're always trying, and they did that again tonight. Sometimes the results aren't there. Most nights they are," he said. "We can sit here and dissect this game all we want. The bottom line is we lost. Whether you lose 6-2 or you lose 1-0 in overtime, we lost the game. Turn the page and move on. Let's sit here in 48 hours or whatever it is and dissect that one. This one's over."

The Panthers are the reigning Stanley Cup champion. Cooper noted that a number of his players were seeing their first playoff action in Game 1.

"We had a bunch of guys tonight playing their first playoff games, and I thought guys handled it fairly well. But in the end we gave up six goals," he said. "The series isn't won in one game, so there's a positive."

That said, it took just one game for the Panthers to flex on the Lightning defense and special teams, going 3-for-3 on the power play. One huge factor in that domination was an injury to Lightning center Anthony Cirelli, their best defensive forward and a key to their penalty kill. He left the game after taking two shifts in the second period. There was no update on his status after the game.

Game 2 is Thursday night at Amalie Arena in Tampa.

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said he wasn't worried his team could only muster one goal in Tuesday's 1-0 win over Mallorca despite racking up 40 shots.

Dani Olmo was the match winner, striking early in the second half as Barça recorded the most shots on goal in a LaLiga match since at least 2003, tied with Real Madrid's 40 against Real Zaragoza in 2011.

The victory took the league leaders seven points clear of second placed Madrid, who play Getafe on Wednesday, with the Clásico rivals then meeting in the Copa del Rey final on Saturday.

"It was 40 shots, maybe not on target, but 40 shots," a barely believing Flick said in the post match news conference. "The way we played football was pretty good. We created a lot of chances. Of course we missed a lot, but a clean sheet, 1-0, with all the changes we made, I appreciate how we played today."

It looked like it might not be Barça's night at half-time after they spurned 24 shots on goal in the first half alone.

Olmo was denied by the sublime Leo Román, who ended the game with 12 saves on his first start for Mallorca since January, Gavi hit the post and Ronald Araújo missed the target when it was easier to score.

However, Olmo eased the nerves inside the Olympic Stadium with a tidy finish 46 seconds into the second half to become the fifth player to reach 10 goals for Barça this season after Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres.

"I always think positive so it's never in my mind that I think we will lose that," added Flick of his thoughts as Barça failed to convert their openings. "For me, it was more important to control the game and not make many mistakes.

"I am happy about that. Sometimes a 1-0 is good, we defended much better than the matches before. We're on a good way."

Flick also took the chance to rest some players ahead of the Copa final at the weekend.

Pau Cubarsí, Frenkie de Jong and Raphinha were all on the bench, while defender Jules Kounde's run of 86 consecutive Barça appearances ended as he was an unused substitute.

Among those to come into the team was Ansu Fati, who made his first start since October and just his second of the season in all competitions, while there was also a start for young full-back Hector Fort.

Fati played 62 minutes and accounted for four of Barça's 40 shots before being replaced by Raphinha.

"I think so," Flick said when asked if Fati had taken a step forward. "You can see his teammates also support him. Also the fans.

"I think for him it's a really good day today. It will help him to have confidence, more belief in himself. It is a good day for him and also for us.

"You can see all the players that came in today connected with the other players. They know what to do, how we want to play. This is a good thing to see. I am happy that everyone is connected."

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola scoffed at suggestions that his team could look back on this season as a special one if they clinch a Champions League berth.

City took a big step towards securing European qualification with their 2-1 Premier League win over Aston Villa on Tuesday thanks to Matheus Nunes's 94th-minute strike.

Guardiola's men climbed two spots to third in the league table, still 18 points behind leaders Liverpool and so will finish well short of their early-season goal of capturing an historic fifth consecutive league title.

"This season has been bad," Guardiola said. "It doesn't matter whether we reach the [FA Cup] final, or qualification for the Champions League. The reality is that what determines, what makes you feel the season is good is the Premier League, not the Champions League, not FA Cups. It's that consistency in the Premier League.

"But it happens, sometimes you have bad seasons. The level of the teams [in the Premier League] is outstanding."

Guardiola, whose team face Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup semifinals on Sunday, celebrated with clenched fists and a roar of delight after Nunes fired home from a tight angle from Jérémy Doku's low cross through the box

"I was so happy. I have to admit it," Guardiola said.

A top-five finish would go some way to ending the season on a high -- and Guardiola's celebration was evidence of just how important the win could prove to be.

"We have a lot of pressure for the club to go to the Champions League," said Guardiola, whose City team won the competition for the first time in 2023.

"If we win the next four games, it will have been so important," he added.

The game had looked destined to end in a draw after Bernardo Silva's first-half goal had been canceled out by a Marcus Rashford penalty.

There is still likely to be a tense battle for the Champions League with a clutch of teams in contention going into the final weeks of the season and just four points separating third to seventh in the standings.

But City's fate is in their own hands after a troubled campaign that saw their title defence unravel before Christmas and their hopes of winning the Champions League end in the playoffs.

Victory moved City up to 61 points and above Nottingham Forest in fourth and Newcastle in fifth.

Chelsea are sixth and Villa, with 57 points, are seventh.

Both City and Villa have played a game more than their top-five rivals. But City know a perfect record from its remaining four league games would guarantee a place in next season's Champions League.

It would be the 15th season in a row that City have qualified for the competition and would provide an uplifting finale to a campaign that brought an end to Guardiola's recent dominance of English football.

Defeat was a blow to Villa's hopes of making it back-to-back seasons in the Champions League after returning to the competition for the first time in 41 years this term and advancing to the quarterfinals.

"Of course, today we lost, but there are still matches to play, still points to play [for]. We will have chances to get the Champions League," Villa manager Unai Emery said. "I am happy how we are reacting, how every player is facing the moment we are [in]."

Information from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this report.

MANCHESTER, England -- Pep Guardiola has seen Manchester City score goals to win Premier League titles, FA Cups, and the UEFA Champions League, and yet very few have prompted celebrations like his reaction to Matheus Nunes' stoppage-time winner against Aston Villa.

It was Nunes who ghosted in at the back post to tap in Jérémy Doku's cross in the 94th minute to hand City a crucial 2-1 win. The importance was not lost on Guardiola. A draw would have left his hopes of competing in next season's Champions League hanging in the balance. Now, with four games to go, they're in pole position to finish in the top five.

When goals go in at the Etihad Stadium, Guardiola usually turns to gesture to his family in the stands behind the benches. This time, he clenched both fists, let out a giant scream, and ran up and down the touchline.

Nunes peeled off towards the corner flag before disappearing beneath a pile of jubilant blue shirts. A couple of Villa defenders dropped onto their heels. Manager Unai Emery looked to the heavens and then buried his face in his hands. The race for the Champions League is so tight that a Villa win would have elevated them to fourth in the table. Instead, they're seventh, and it's City sitting pretty in third.

"Of course, it's important," said Guardiola afterwards.

"You don't have to be a scientist to realise that we play against Aston Villa, one of the best teams, as you saw against Newcastle United and Paris Saint-Germain.

"I'm really happy. We're in the last four games and a Champions League contender for qualification. Aston Villa is a team to the last man, one of the top teams in Europe.

"We played really good. Football is emotion. For the fans, players, we have a lot of pressure for the club to go to the Champions League. The players behave unbelievably. We are so pleased."

This has been a difficult season for City, which might go some way to explaining Guardiola's ferocious celebrations. Nunes was only playing as an emergency right-back because of a long list of injuries. At left-back, it was 20-year-old Nico O'Reilly, who is usually a midfielder.

Star men like Erling Haaland and Rodri were sitting in the stands. Phil Foden, last season's Premier League Player of the Season, was left on the bench because his form has dipped so much.

"If you tell me at the beginning of the season that at the end of the season you are fighting for the FA Cup final or to qualify for the Champions League with Nico and Matheus at full-back, I'd say what are you talking about?" said Guardiola.

He isn't expecting any sympathy. But after dealing with problem after problem, he will still count Champions League qualification as a big win. Perhaps not as big as lifting the Premier League or Champions League, but important nonetheless. His team are in this position at all because of a miserable run of results during November and December. The spark of the four-in-a-row title winners is still missing. They have, however, rediscovered their fight just in the nick of time.

In the last three weeks, City have battled back from a goal down to beat Bournemouth 2-1, recovered from two goals down to beat Crystal Palace 5-2, and scored two late goals to win at Everton. An even later goal saw off a spirited Villa after a Marcus Rashford penalty had cancelled out Bernardo Silva's early opener.

Four clear of Chelsea in sixth, they should now go on to collect the points they need in their final four games against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Southampton, Bournemouth, and Fulham.

City have appeared determined to do everything the hard way this season, but they will back themselves to get the job done from here.

"The Bournemouth game changed something," admitted Guardiola when asked about his rollercoaster month.

While Guardiola praised his squad and their spirit, Emery was left to reflect on what might have been. He must pick his players up quickly ahead of their FA Cup semifinal against Crystal Palace at Wembley on Saturday. Villa fans have enjoyed their Champions League campaign and their big European nights against Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain and want to experience it all over again next season.

But the FA Cup offers a chance to win a first domestic trophy since 1996. They've not won the FA Cup since 1957. With City playing Nottingham Forest in the second semifinal on Sunday, there's the chance Guardiola and Emery might meet again in the final on May 17.

"We have to accept this defeat," said Emery.

"Now, our mind changes so quickly. We are separating this competition until next Saturday against Fulham. We now focus on Crystal Palace in the FA Cup. Overall, I am proud of what we are doing. It is a key moment in the Premier League.

"Today we lost, but there are still points to play. We will get chances to get in the Champions League."

TAMPA, Fla. -- Matthew Tkachuk made his long-awaited return to the lineup and was back to his old self quickly on Tuesday night for the Florida Panthers, who opened this postseason the way they ended last postseason: With a win.

Playing for the first time in more than two months after dealing with a lower-body injury, Tkachuk scored two second-period goals in his return game, as the Panthers handled the rival Tampa Bay Lightning 6-2 in this Eastern Conference first-round series opener at Amalie Arena.

Those two goals were both of the power-play variety, the first putting Florida up 4-1 -- the second goal for the Panthers in a 14-second span -- and the next one pushing the lead to 5-1 midway through the second period.

It was just like old times: Tkachuk got twisted up with Tampa Bay's Brandon Hagel -- someone he fought during the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament -- after one whistle, took the game's first penalty on a roughing call (leading to Tampa Bay's first goal), then made sure his name was all over the score sheet.

Florida coach Paul Maurice, in his in-game, bench interview with ESPN's Emily Kaplan, said he was comfortable with what he was seeing from Tkachuk in his first game back and expected him to "be the difference-maker" for the Panthers.

"That's what he is for us," Maurice said. "He's got an incredible set of hands, got an incredible gift for the emotional needs of a game, when you need a hit, when you need a big play. He's been great for us."

Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart also scored for the Panthers, and veteran defenseman Nate Schmidt, not known for his offense, added two more goals, as Florida, which won the Stanley Cup last June, hammered an Atlantic Division foe in front of a sellout crowd, setting up an all-important Game 2 on Thursday.

Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy will need to be sharper in that game, after a Tuesday performance to forget. The two-time Stanley Cup winner allowed all six goals on just 16 shots, closing with a .625 save percentage. Across the ice, Florida's Sergei Bobrovsky made 20 saves en route to the win.

"The series isn't won in one game, so there's a positive. We had a bunch of guys tonight playing their first playoff games, and I thought guys handled it fairly well," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "But in the end, we gave up six goals. We're a pretty decent defensive team, and we have a very good [penalty-kill unit], and we gave up three [goals] on that. ... In the end, those are areas of strength of ours, so I'm pretty confident we can button those up, and we'll be OK."

Jake Guentzel, in his first season with the club, and Brayden Point scored for Tampa Bay. But the Lightning played the final 33:30 without center Anthony Cirelli, and it showed. There was no immediate word why the 27-year-old center was out.

"We gave up 16 shots, and that's usually a good night, but tonight wasn't that. They're a good team, we know they have good players," Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman said. "So, for us, it's all about refocusing, make sure we have a good practice tomorrow, and get ready for the next one."

Whether Tkachuk would even play in Game 1 wasn't certain until just before game time. Tkachuk went through practices Saturday and Monday, then took part in the team's day-of-game skate Tuesday before the decision on his return was made. Maurice even indicated that it could come down to the final few minutes before the 8:48 p.m. start time of the game.

"It's not really a guy you can put a label on," Schmidt said of Tkachuk. "He's such a unicorn of a player. But, more than anything, just how he is in the room, getting the guys fired up for the game, you feel his energy, you feel his excitement."

Tkachuk hadn't played for the Panthers since Feb. 8 because of a lower-body injury suffered during the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament two months ago. He missed the team's final 25 games of the regular season, yet still finished with 22 goals and 57 points -- third most on the team in all three categories. He was also second on the Panthers this season with 11 power-play goals.

"There's no better time to be an athlete," Tkachuk told Kaplan in a postgame interview, in reference to the postseason. "This is the time of our lives. And just getting a win here in Game 1 is the cherry on top."

Panthers forward Brad Marchand, acquired at the NHL trade deadline from the Boston Bruins, made his postseason debut for his new team in the win and also played with Tkachuk for the first time. Marchand had an assist and two shots on net in his 17:15 of ice time, and seemed to fit right in with Florida's dominant forward group.

"Both teams will look at the tape and find things that they can do better," Maurice said after the win. "But there isn't an established identity to the series yet."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Two years ago, Payton Pritchard was on the fringes of Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla's rotation.

But over the course of last season, when Boston won its 18th NBA title, and this year, when the Celtics are hoping to repeat for the first time since Bill Russell was in uniform, Pritchard has been a constant source of energy and production off the bench, a role that was recognized by the league's awards voters when they bestowed Pritchard with the league's Sixth Man of the Year honor.

"I feel like every year, you get a little bit better," Pritchard said earlier Tuesday, before being given the award Tuesday night. "So I hope that ... I've gotten better than I was last year. So if that means I'm stronger, more in shape, better basketball IQ.

"I've just been through it now, so I understand what it takes and what this team needs. I'm not saying it's going to be scoring every night, but just this level of physicality, picking up the ball. This intensity, that's what needs to be there every night."

That's the role Pritchard has filled admirably for the past couple of seasons with the Celtics, including averaging 14.3 points and shooting 40.7% from 3 across 80 games this season, with just three starts. Despite almost exclusively coming off the bench, he averaged more than 28 minutes per game, a sign of the importance Pritchard has for Boston on a nightly basis.

It's a role that has taken some adjusting to for the former Oregon college star, who at one point during his third season in the league -- when he played in only 48 games for the Celtics -- was ready to move on from Boston. Now, he has been honored as the league's best bench player, an honor that is named after Celtics legend John Havlicek, who made the role popular during his Hall of Fame career.

"I feel like that's probably another area of growth I've had, too," Pritchard said. "Mentally, like this whole year, (I've) been coming off the bench around the six-minute mark, and then you don't go in until the end of the first. You don't go into the game knowing when you're going to go in or anything, but as a player, young player, you might get frustrated. You might be like, 'Oh, I'm not playing as much tonight.'

"But instead, now maturing a little bit, once you get your opportunity, you just take full advantage of it and don't look back. Obviously, you're going to be a little cold. You do your jumps, run around, try to stay warm, but it's just being mentally prepared for your moment and never look back."

Pritchard finished with 82 out of the 100 available first-place votes, along with 13 second-place votes and five third-place selections. He was the only player to appear on every ballot.

"Payton is a baller -- and his teammates know what they are getting every single day in terms of effort, care, and commitment," Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said in a statement. "For him to be honored with the award named after the great John Havlicek is a credit to all that he brings to the table for our team."

Detroit Pistons guard Malik Beasley, the only player in the top 20 in 3-point attempts this season to also shoot 40% or better, hitting 41.6% of his triples as part of Detroit's surprising season, was second, getting 13 first-place, 66 second-place and 16 third-place votes. Cleveland Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome -- who missed virtually all of last season for the Cavaliers due to injuries, had a stellar season for Cleveland off the bench, averaging 12.5 points per game while shooting 51.6% overall and 43.9% from 3-point range -- was third, landing two first-place, 12 second-place and 45 third-place votes.

The rest of the players to receive votes were Cavaliers forward De'Andre Hunter; Minnesota Timberwolves center Naz Reid, who won the award last year; Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker; Denver Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook; and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso.

Sixth Man is the first of the league's seven major individual awards to be handed out, and will be followed by the Clutch Player award Wednesday -- with New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards as finalists -- and Defensive Player of the Year on Thursday, with Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley, Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels and Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green up for that honor.

The NBA also will announce the Hustle Award winner Friday, while the rest of the major honors -- Most Valuable Player, Most Improved Player, Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year and the All-NBA, All-Defense and All-Rookie teams -- to be announced over the next few weeks.

ESPN's Baxter Holmes contributed to this report.

INDIANAPOLIS -- All-Star guard Damian Lillard wanted to give the Milwaukee Bucks a lift Tuesday night.

So he called coach Doc Rivers in the morning and told him he would return for Game 2 of their first-round playoff series after missing the past month because of a health scare. Rivers didn't argue, with his team down 1-0.

Lillard gave it everything he could in Indianapolis, finishing with 14 points on 4-of-13 shooting while playing 37 minutes in a 123-115 Game 2 loss to the Indiana Pacers.

"It felt pretty good, given the fact that I haven't played in so long," Lillard said. "Jumping back into a playoff game, I'd say it felt pretty good. I felt pretty solid."

Clearly, he wasn't himself after battling deep vein thrombosis in his right calf. He practiced only three times since last playing March 18 and couldn't even do much cardio work to stay in game shape.

It showed.

While there were flashes of his pre-absence play, such as the 3-pointer he made with 2:31 left to get the Bucks within 115-113, his explosiveness was not there. And he appeared to wear down in the second half when he was 1-of-7 from the field and 1-of-6 on 3s.

"I got a little winded, but I think everyone got a little winded," Lillard said. "I wasn't really thinking about if I was tired, it was just like I'm out here and I've got to do what I got to do."

Just getting back on the court this quickly was a major victory for Lillard, though.

The blood-clotting disorder usually keeps players out months, not weeks, something Rivers feared may happen after learning the ailment was more serious than the initial diagnosis.

Lillard even opted to take a little extra time to get his body back in shape for the rigors of the postseason.

Still, Rivers and Lillard said they would both be monitoring his health during the game, and Rivers told reporters before the game he would pull Lillard out if he noticed fatigue. But when the Bucks needed a late push to get within striking distance of evening the series, Rivers thought it was better to keep his nine-time All-Star on the court.

That led to some late-game jawing between Lillard and Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton as the Bucks lost for the fifth time in their past six postseason games against Indiana.

"Down the stretch I just kept him in. I used it sort of as conditioning," Rivers said. "He was exhausted and I saw that, and I thought, 'Just let him blow it because we've got two days to recover.' That's basically why I kept him in."

Game 3 is Friday in Milwaukee, and the Bucks certainly could use Lillard's help -- if he can be as effective as he was before being held out.

Lillard averaged 18.3 points, 9.3 assists and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 35.5% overall and 38.9% from 3-point range in four regular-season games against Indiana this season. In last year's first-round series, he averaged 31.3 points against the Pacers, who won the series 4-2.

Two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo missed all six of those games with a calf injury but scored 36 points and had 12 rebounds in Game 1 and followed that with 34 points, 18 rebounds and 7 assists. It was the first playoff game Antetokounmpo and Lillard played together.

Now comes what could prove the harder part -- protect their home court, clawing their way back into the series and avoiding a third straight first-round exit without knowing whether Lillard will be ready to play in Game 3.

"The biggest question for us is the recovery," Rivers said. "The trick is trying not to get him into that point of exhaustion because then it's hard to come back. So that's the trick we were doing tonight."

INDIANAPOLIS -- If the repeated verbal altercations and the assessment of double technical fouls in each of the first two games between the Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers did not fully convey how acrimonious things have become between the teams, Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton made sure to leave no doubt.

"We don't have to sit here and act like it's any secret," Haliburton said after the Pacers took a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference first-round series with a 123-115 victory over the Bucks on Tuesday. "We don't like them, they don't like us and that's just what it is. And I think they live for this, we live for this, so I could [not] care less. I'm out here just trying to help my team win a game."

The latest installment of Bucks-Pacers was just as unfriendly as many of the other recent games involving the teams. And things figure to remain heated as the Bucks return home desperate for a win.

Game 1 in this series was marked by an altercation involving Haliburton and Bucks star Damian Lillard -- who was on the bench for that game but returned to action for the first time in a month Tuesday. Game 2 produced another run-in between the All-Stars/Olympians. There was another tense moment when Milwaukee's Gary Trent Jr. and Indiana's Pascal Siakam wrestled over a loose ball with Siakam hitting the floor hard.

Of his run-ins with Lillard, Haliburton said, "Just competitors. He wants to win, I want to win. It's the highest level. We're in the highest level in the most contentious moment here in the playoffs."

Maybe this is what should be expected between teams that have seen so much of each other in the past two seasons. Including their meetings in the regular season, last season's NBA Cup semifinals and their six-game playoff series a year ago, the Pacers and Bucks have squared off 18 times since the start of the 2023-24 season. Among those games was a regular-season matchup in December 2023 that was followed by a tense postgame confrontation over Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo's attempt to recover a game ball from the Pacers to commemorate his 64-point performance that night.

Antetokounmpo acknowledged the strife between the teams but suggested his team had bigger problems given its 2-0 series deficit and the fact that Milwaukee has led for a combined three minutes in two games.

"I feel like there's a lot of animosity, a lot of back and forth," he said. "But I try to stay away from it. I try to stay away from it as much as I can and just focus on what I've got to do to help the team win. But, s---, if you poke me, I'm right there. I'm not backing down.

"I think a lot of people know that about me, but I really don't care about what people think or what [the Pacers] think or what we think. I really don't care. My mindset right now is Game 3. We know the f---ing deal man. I just know the deal. I know what I've got to do."

The Pacers seemed headed for a rout at times Tuesday, leading by as many as 16 points after blowing open Game 1 by as many as 28 points. But Milwaukee showed life in the final minutes, going on a 13-0 run to turn a 15-point Indiana lead with 5:43 remaining into a two-point game by the 2:33 mark. Lillard, who returned after being sidelined by a blood clot since March 18, hit a 3-pointer to make it a 115-113 game.

But the Pacers, who have shown mettle in close games this season, responded with a pair of 3s and ultimately closed it out.

Lillard surprisingly played 37 minutes despite his layoff, finishing with 14 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Antetokounmpo was dominant again, scoring 34 after his 36-point effort in Game 1. Bobby Portis added 28 for Milwaukee.

The Pacers produced a balanced scoring effort, with six players in double figures, led by Siakam with 24 points. Haliburton contributed 21 points and 12 assists.

As for what might be ahead in Game 3 and beyond, Haliburton said to expect more of the same intensity from both teams.

"I'm sure you're going to continue to see that through the course of the series," he said. "Everybody says the league rivalries aren't here anymore. Well, it's right here. So, this is an interesting series. We've played each other, it feels like, a million times over the last two years. I've seen every different coverage that they could throw at us. And I feel like those guys probably feel the same way about us. But there's still a lot of series, you've got a lot of games to play. So, I'm sure there'll be more heated moments, more competitive moments."