ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Stephanie Frappart's trajectory to making history at the Super Cup final this Wednesday took shape when she was a football-obsessed 13-year-old in Val d'Oise, a charming suburb in the north of Paris.

Frappart found that playing the game for local team FC Parisis wasn't enough to satisfy her interest, and so, she began to intensively study the laws that governed it. Soon, the teenager was officiating matches as often as she was turning out for her club, and at 20 years old, made the decision to trade in her kit for the whistle.

"At the time, women's football structures were still developing, so I felt that it would be better for me to go on as a referee," Frappart explained. It was an inspired choice, as on Wednesday, the 35-year-old will become the first female official to take charge of a major UEFA men's competition event when Liverpool and Chelsea contest the Super Cup at Vodafone Park, the home of Turkish Super Lig side Besiktas.

Frappart will be assisted by Manuela Nicolosi and Michelle O'Neill, as was the case when she refereed the Women's World Cup final between the U.S. and the Netherlands in July. Turkey's Cuneyt Cakir, who will function as the fourth official, enthused over the trio's brilliance during the assessment protocols in Croatia.

"Two weeks ago in Zagreb, we did the same preparation, the same fitness tests, the same laws of the game, the same training sessions, there is no difference," he explained.

"My honest feeling is they are really brave, they have courage, they don't hesitate to give unpopular decisions. You will see on Wednesday, believe me. When we go to field of play, we are all called referees. There is no gender."

Wednesday will be a seismic moment for all three women, but it's hugely significant for the sport as well. It is an indictment that the names of female officials involved in the men's game -- Bibiana Steinhaus in the Bundesliga and Sian Massey-Ellis, who serves as an assistant running the sidelines in the Premier League, immediately spring to mind -- are so easily listed given the lack of them. The Super Cup could signal a welcome change to that.

Said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, "Finally! It's time. It's a smart decision to have women referee a very, very important game. It's the first time, but I hope it's not the last."

In 1996, when Frappart's passion for refereeing took hold, Nelly Viennot was the only woman to act as an assistant referee in Ligue 1, yet during the course of her 11-year career, she was never promoted to the main role. It was Frappart who smashed that ceiling in April, over two decades later, by officiating Strasbourg's goalless draw at Amiens. The home supporters decided to mark the historic occasion with a banner that read: "Welcome to the Stade de la Licorne, Madame Frappart. Long live women in football!"

Frappart, who works three days a week at a multisport federation in France, had been refereeing in Ligue 2 for five years by that point, had featured as a fourth official in the top flight and had even fulfilled duties as an assistant VAR.

Pierre Bouby, US Orleans midfielder, described her as the best ref in France's second division earlier this year, predicting she would progress in the men's game.

"She is a talking point for the Super Cup, but one of her big strengths is to allow the game to be the centre of attention," a UEFA source told ESPN FC. "She is well respected and she has everything to be a success: the right mentality, the quality, experience and knowledge."

Bouby labelled Frappart "diplomatic" and committed to "doing what's best for the game," which is a common refrain from those who have witnessed her work. Composed, physically sharp and never shying away from her status as a pioneer, the 5-foot-4 Frenchwoman will officiate Ligue 1 matches regularly this season after being assigned to the country's panel of elite referees.

Frappart is thought of as a "game changer," and it is hoped her body of work and opportunities will prompt an increase in female referee applications.

"I hope the skill and devotion that Stephanie has shown throughout her career to reach this level will provide inspiration to millions of girls and women around Europe and show them there should be no barriers in order to reach one's dream," UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said.

Frappart shares the same aspirations.

"I didn't expect to be given the Super Cup assignment; it's a great honour for me, and for female referees as well," she said.

"I hope it serves as an example to female referees, and to any young girls who may aspire to be a referee."

ISTANBUL -- Liverpool can win their sixth European trophy this century when they face Chelsea in the UEFA Super Cup in Turkey on Wednesday, but another continental cup will only draw attention to the ongoing wait to fill the glaring void in the Anfield trophy cabinet.

European glory used to be the pinnacle, but for Liverpool it has become a stepping stone toward ending the long journey back to the summit of English football.

Some will point out that a third Super Cup, to add to the two Champions League titles and a UEFA Cup (now Europa League) won since the turn of the millennium, would be adding too much weight to the European club's achievements, considering that it is widely regarded as no more important than the Community Shield. But you have to be in it to win it and Liverpool's European pedigree is such that every piece of continental silverware matters.

To put their haul into context, Chelsea have won three European trophies since 2000 (Champions League once and Europa League twice), while Manchester United have won two (Champions League and Europa League).

The rest of Liverpool's domestic rivals have yet to get off the mark in Europe this century, but Manchester City, Arsenal and even Leicester City will point to their names on the Premier League trophy in order to dampen any sense of superiority from the red half of Merseyside.

And as Jurgen Klopp's players prepare to face Chelsea in Istanbul -- the city that hosted Liverpool's momentous 2005 Champions League triumph against AC Milan -- they will face Chelsea knowing that, whatever happens at Besiktas' Vodafone Park, the only trophy that truly matters this season is the one that continues to elude them.

Liverpool's Champions League success in Madrid last season, the club's sixth overall, more than made up for the disappointment of missing out on the Premier League title to Man City at the end of the most compelling title race for 20 years.

But it was also unusual for the fact that Liverpool emerged as European champions having gone so long without being crowned kings of their own country. It is now 29 years since Liverpool were champions of England and no Champions League winners have lifted the European Cup having been second best in their own domain for so long.

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Sir Alex Ferguson once compared winning the Champions League with Manchester United to scaling a mountain, with key staging posts along the way. Winning a trophy, then winning the title, were crucial milestones for Ferguson's United team on their journey to the Champions League crown in 1999.

Chelsea took a similar path before lifting the Champions League in 2012, while City now see winning the European Cup as the culmination of their growth since Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan's takeover of the club in 2008.

In trophy-winning terms, Liverpool ran before they could walk by lifting the European Cup at the end of last season, bypassing the traditional route to success in the competition.

Since 2000, only two Champions League winners have won the European Cup having failed to win their own domestic league during the five years prior to their success -- Liverpool in 2005 and Liverpool in 2019.

But despite adding to their European haul last season, the thirst for domestic glory remains unquenched, and, in many ways, becoming European champions has added to the pressure and expectation for the long wait for the English title to end

Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley always described the English title as Liverpool's "bread and butter." Anything else on top of winning the league was viewed as a bonus or embellishment on what really mattered. By that logic, bread and butter has been in short supply at Anfield since 1990, though.

Canvass anyone with a Liverpool affiliation -- player, supporter, owner, manager -- who was in Madrid in June and you would be hard pressed to find anyone who would swap that night, and the European Cup, for the Premier League trophy.

Privately, however, there is a growing determination and desperation to scratch the 30-year itch at Anfield and win the title. And winning the Champions League, with the Super Cup potentially also on the way, only sharpens the focus on winning the one that continues to elude the club.

Klopp has urged everyone at Anfield to forget about the events of last season and concentrate only on what lies ahead. He has told his players to "stay greedy" and spoken of the Super Cup as a "big one" because of the prestige that comes with getting there in the first place.

But Liverpool need to use their Champions League triumph and Super Cup appearance as steps toward winning the Premier League, rather than regard them as the cherry on top of the cake. For Liverpool, the cake is still to be cooked, but last season showed how close they are to ending the long wait.

Victory in Istanbul, against a Premier League rival, will only consolidate the winning mentality that Klopp aims to develop at Anfield. But until they win the Premier League, there will be a hollow feeling at Anfield, no matter how many European trophies they collect along the way.

Not even a month removed from the greatest World Cup final, the road to the 2023 edition of cricket's showpiece event begins in earnest in Scotland at the inaugural tri-series of the rebranded Cricket World Cup League Two.

No more confusion trying to understand the nuances of the World Cricket League versus the World Cup Qualifier. Everything is now under one umbrella; not just the Full Members but teams ranked as low as 32 in the world have a clear-cut pathway to make it to the 2023 World Cup. It's also the first time that Full Members are forced to qualify in head-to-head league competition as opposed to rankings points. Here's how qualification for World Cup 2023 will be sorted.

Cricket World Cup ODI Super League

Teams: 12 Full Members + Netherlands
Matches: 24 ODIs per team starting in May 2020

In the past, the ODI rankings table was used for qualification, but the table was unbalanced and not, intrinsically, fair. The easiest way to make sure a team below you couldn't overtake you on the rankings table - say Afghanistan or Ireland - was to simply not schedule a series against them. The rankings table also led to unbalanced fixture lists by virtue, for example, of India's current ranking based on 56 matches whereas Ireland's is based off 29 ODIs in the same time frame.

That's no longer possible in the new structure. Each of the 13 teams will have their qualification status for the 2023 World Cup determined by an equal number of matches. Each of the 13 teams will host four home and four away series, with each consisting of three ODIs, that will count toward World Cup qualification.

Due to scheduling constraints, each team will miss playing four of the 12 possible teams in the Super League.

At the end of the Super League, the top seven teams in addition to World Cup host India will qualify for the 2023 World Cup. The bottom five teams will get a second chance by dropping back into the 2022 World Cup Qualifier. The team that finishes at the bottom of the ODI Super League also runs the risk of being relegated into Cricket World Cup League Two for the 2027 World Cup qualification cycle.

Cricket World Cup League Two

Teams: Scotland, UAE, Nepal, Namibia, Oman, Papua New Guinea, USA
Matches: 36 ODIs per team starting in August 2019

The seven Associate countries ranked 14-20 will each contest a total of nine tri-series over the next two and a half years. The redesigned CWC League Two guarantees each team hosts everyone for two ODIs and tours every other country for two ODIs for a total of 24 matches. The other 12 ODIs in the structure are played as neutral-site matches.

At the end of the 36 ODIs for each country, the top three teams on the points table out of the seven countries will join the bottom five teams from the ODI Super League in the 2022 World Cup Qualifier. The CWC League Two champion also has the opportunity to advance into the CWC ODI Super League for the 2027 World Cup cycle. Meanwhile, the teams that finish fourth -seventh in League Two fall back into a repechage event, the Cricket World Cup Playoff, for one more crack at going to the 2022 World Cup Qualifier.

Cricket World Cup Challenge League A and B

Teams: League A: Canada, Denmark, Malaysia, Qatar, Singapore, Vanuatu; League B: Bermuda, Hong Kong, Italy, Jersey, Kenya, Uganda
Matches: 15 List A per team starting in September 2019

This equation is a bit simpler for the teams involved. The only way to have a chance at going to the 2022 World Cup Qualifier is by winning your league. Each league consists of three single round-robin tournaments, essentially a five-match tour once a year in 2019, 2020 and 2021. At the end of the 15 matches per team, the teams that top League A and League B advance to the 2022 CWC Qualifier Playoff.

2022 CWC Qualifier Playoff

Teams: Bottom four teams from CWC League Two + winners of CWC Challenge League A and B Matches: Five ODIs per team in single-round robin format

This one is also pretty simple and is designed in the manner of the old World Cricket League. The top two teams in this six-team single round-robin event advance to the 2022 World Cup Qualifier. Unlike in years past when these matches were classified as List A only under the banner of the World Cricket League, all matches at this tournament will have ODI status.

2022 CWC Qualifier

Teams: Bottom five teams from ODI Super League + top three teams from CWC League Two + top two teams from CWC Playoff

The top two teams at this 10-team event will claim the final two berths available for the 2023 Cricket World Cup. All matches will have ODI status, including if any team without ODI status from the Challenge League has advanced to the Qualifier.

There's another carrot up for grabs between the 13th placed team in the ODI Super League and the champion of CWC League Two. Whichever of these two teams finishes in a higher position at the CWC Qualifier will claim the 13th spot in the ODI Super League for the 2027 World Cup Qualification, while the team that finishes in the lower position will play in the CWC League Two for 2027 World Cup.

It means there is a chance a Full Member could be relegated into CWC League Two by finishing last in the ODI Super League. If Netherlands finish in 12th place or higher for the ODI Super League, they will be guaranteed to stay in the Super League for the 2027 cycle and could possibly be joined by a second Associate nation, the winner of the CWC League Two. However, if Netherlands finishes in last place in the ODI Super League, they run the risk of being replaced by another Associate country for the 2027 World Cup qualification cycle.

Follow our live report for updates, stats, trivia, colour and discussion during the second Test of the 2019 Ashes from Lord's. If the blog doesn't load, please refresh your page. Click here to follow our ball-by-ball commentary

Serena Williams has withdrawn from the Cincinnati Masters with a recurring back injury, just days after pulling out of the Rogers Cup final.

Williams, 37, was set to face Zarina Diyas in the first round on Tuesday.

"I am so sad to withdraw as it is truly one of the tournaments I most love to play," the 23-time Grand Slam champion said.

The American has had to retire or withdraw from all five of her non-Grand Slam events this year.

During last weekend's Rogers Cup final she was left in tears because of back spasms and retired in the first set to hand the title to Canadian Bianca Andreescu.

"I came to Mason [Ohio] on Sunday and have tried everything to be ready to play tonight, and was still hopeful after my practice this morning," Williams said in a statement. "But unfortunately my back is still not right."

Her latest withdrawal comes less than two weeks before the start of the US Open, where she will be chasing a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title.

Meanwhile, sister Venus Williams beat defending champion and fifth seed Kiki Bertens 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-4) in a second-round battle in Ohio that lasted two hours and 17 minutes.

Lunch New Zealand 71 for 3 (Taylor 6*, Akila 3-28) v Sri Lanka

Akila Dananjaya dragged Sri Lanka ahead in the first session, snagging Tom Latham and Kane Williamson in the space of four balls, before dismissing Jeet Raval off the last ball of the session to neutralise what had otherwise been an impressive New Zealand start. Having opted to bat and put on 64 for the opening stand, New Zealand went to lunch 71 for 3, a sequence eerily similar to their Dubai Test against Pakistan last year, when they'd folded for 90 after a half-century stand from the same openers.

Raval and Latham had settled nicely into a pattern of old-fashioned Test cricket, matching Sri Lanka's discipline in the first hour before opening up to put up their fifth stand of 50 or more in their last 15 innings. But on a pitch that had begun turning big inside ten overs, Akila figured his way to first squaring Latham up and then slowing the ball down to induce a soft shot from Williamson. The resulting pressure even got to Raval, who edged to slip chasing outside off what looked like a googly.

Akila was the most effective of Sri Lanka's three spinners, although it did take him a few overs to find the right pace to extract turn on the pitch. Having come on as early as the 8th over, his flat trajectory was serving both batsmen's compulsion for the paddle and lap sweeps. But, with a change of end and more flight, and speeds closer to 75kph, he caused them trouble. With prodigious turn away, the openers were keen to continue offering angled bats, but the slowness had them getting down for sweeps earlier than needed, putting their leading edges in danger on a few occasions. Consequently, straighter bats were offered, and this brought Akila back in. He managed to get past the outside edge several times and eventually had Latham poking away from the body after turning one past the corridor.

Williamson was met with a short leg, a leg slip, and a catching midwicket when he came in. Persisting with his slow pace, Akila had Williamson adjusting to play late after he had premeditated and planted his front foot. With the ball not quite coming on, and with the danger of the two close catchers, Williamson could only muster a weak lash at the ball, closing the face much before it arrived. Dimuth Karunaratne gratefully accepted a simple lob at short midwicket.

Ross Taylor and Raval tried to run down the clock to turn the three remaining overs into two, but Sri Lanka's rapid over rate in the second hour of the session paid off. Having snuck in one more over and built enough pressure, they had Raval push at one outside off stump for what seemed the first time in all of the 83 balls he faced. In 15 minutes, the match had changed for New Zealand. Fittingly, the dark clouds had showed up by the end of a session that began warm and sunny.

Akila had found little support from the other end. Sri Lanka bowled all five of their main bowling options, including all three of their spinners. None of them had particularly bad periods with the ball, but neither were they particularly menacing. Lakmal's economy was part discipline, part bowling too wide: at one point, Latham had left more than half the deliveries he bowled. Lahiru Kumara hit the 140s with impressive consistency, but his lengths were either short or full, with nothing in the middle. So while Sri Lanka had movement from one end, and pace from the other, the new-ball pair never quite came together to consistently trouble the openers. Left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya and offspinner Dhananjaya de Silva couldn't find their rhythms in the combined seven overs they bowled.

It was during this phase that Raval and Latham began milking the hard work they'd put in. In the first hour, they'd put up only 21 runs, waiting and watching on the back foot for short stuff and width. Sri Lanka didn't bowl too many loose deliveries, but each one was punished. With that test negotiated, Raval even took some chances: he planted the front foot down against Dhananjaya to first drive him wide of mid-off, and then lofted him over the same fielder a few balls later. In the next over, Latham crunched Akila to deep square's right with a ferocious sweep, and New Zealand looked set to go off the happier team. All it took to change that was one wicket.

OXNARD, Calif. -- At the opening of training camp on July 27, Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said the team had to not just do deals with quarterback Dak Prescott, receiver Amari Cooper and running back Ezekiel Elliott -- but make the right deals to keep a young roster together for the future.

With the Cowboys' time in Southern California coming to an end Thursday, the team is not close to a deal with any of their offensive stars, but Jones reiterated his stance, pointing to the recent past as an example of when things go wrong relative to the salary cap.

"It's not like me going out here and buying something that I have to decide whether I want to just spend to have that," Jones said. "That's not it at all. It's that I've got to realize that I can let a DeMarcus Ware out of here because I don't have enough money because I paid it to too many others.

"That's happened to me, and I don't want it to happen again. And we've got some top talent here."

Ware was released after the 2013 season, with the Cowboys not even making a contract offer to their all-time leader in sacks. Ware signed with the Denver Broncos and won a Super Bowl ring.

The Cowboys have made offers to Prescott, Cooper and Elliott that would rank in the top five at their positions, but there have been minimal negotiations recently. Elliott missed his 19th day of training camp in his holdout on Wednesday, and he is facing more than $750,000 in fines for his absence. Prescott and Cooper have been in Oxnard, although Cooper has missed the past seven practices with a bruised heel.

Jones said he would feel comfortable continuing negotiations with the players into the regular season and said he has not been told by the players' representatives that talks would cut off by the time the Cowboys play the New York Giants on Sept. 8.

"The issue is -- and the only bit of leverage is -- can it go into the regular season?" Jones said. "And that's where you start paying a price if you're a team, but the player pays a price in doing that too. So all of that is, as I've said and tried to point out, when you've been in this and done it as often and as many times as I have, then it doesn't startle you. It doesn't alarm."

Jones does not fear the lack of a deal impacting Prescott on the field.

"We're obviously proud of all the work we're getting in, and it's not an issue, his contract, as to play and frame of mind and what we're going to be doing this year," Jones said. "It's not an issue. It has no bearing on, as I see it. It's something that is more about the future."

Jones said until a deal is done, he wouldn't have an idea if one is close.

"It takes two, and both of us haven't said yes at the same time," Jones said.

As for Elliott, Jones acknowledged again the running back's absence could stretch into the regular season.

"If it doesn't, it's probably no harm," Jones said.

Jones said he has not communicated with Elliott but could call him if he wanted. Jones also said he has received reports that Elliott is in good shape while in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, during the holdout.

"Zeke has the ability to just completely hit the ground running, if I may use that," Jones said. "We expect that and he says it and I believe him that he's in great shape, and so I don't think that will be an issue when he does come back. In the meantime, we have to be ready to go without him, and we're getting that way."

Clearly, Jones would like to get a deal done with at least one of the trio.

"The answer is yes, but I'll repeat it: Would it be better if we can get one of the players done -- and I'm not being trite -- then to not have any done of the ones you're talking about? The answer is yes," Jones said. "What may surprise you is we may come up with one that you haven't been asking about that might make a point in what I'm trying to make."

NAPA, Calif. -- Oakland Raiders receiver Antonio Brown offered the most detailed -- and graphic -- description of his frostbitten feet yet.

It was on Tuesday night's episode of HBO's "Hard Knocks," when Brown took off his socks and shoes -- "Wanna see it?" he teased the camera -- to show the peeling soles of his feet.

"My feet are pretty much getting circumcised, right?" he said in the interview, which took place away from the Raiders' training camp facility. "Hopefully, my feet are born again and I frickin' can run faster. Feel sorry for me later. Thank you."

And while it has been established that Brown suffered the burn while vacationing in Paris in July, the seven-time Pro Bowl receiver confirmed earlier reports that it was the result of a cryotherapy mishap.

"I was trying cold therapy, they were covering my body and I got out and I felt my foot burning," he said. "So I was like, man, I felt a hot sensation. So, the next 24 hours it swelled up, got really big, and I couldn't really walk or put pressure. The doctor came over, drained a little out. Scalpel the next day, frickin' scissors the next day, and just kind of let it leak all out. So, as everything leaked all out, I was able to put a lot of pressure. Thankfully, my trainer was working me out; I can't be on my feet, so, I'm crawling in workouts, just getting other stuff done and have everything get better.

"So now it's just, new skin. I'm trying to get my feet used to feeling it, but I feel like I got a big patch of just open whoopee cushion, you know?"

Brown was not wearing appropriate footwear when he entered the cryotherapy chamber, a source told ESPN.

Brown, who also lost a grievance with the NFL to wear his old helmet on Monday, returned to Raiders camp on Tuesday after being away for two weeks. But he and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, insisted the injury -- and not the flap over his helmet -- was the true reason he was away, seeking therapy that included laser treatment.

Neither, though, would go into more detail over how, exactly, the injury occurred, with Rosenhaus saying legal action might be pursued "possibly" against the cryotherapy lab.

Brown still was walking gingerly, though, when he arrived at camp.

Raiders coach Jon Gruden was not sure if Brown would play in any of Oakland's three remaining preseason games. But when asked if he expected Brown to be ready for the regular-season opener on Sept. 9, Gruden said, "Oh, yeah."

LOS ANGELES -- USA Basketball coach Gregg Popovich said what former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has done to bring light to social justice and racial inequality "was a very patriotic thing."

Popovich, the longtime coach of the San Antonio Spurs, has spoken multiple times in the past about Kaepernick, who drew national attention while with the Niners in 2016 when he knelt during the national anthem before games to protest racial oppression and police brutality. Popovich has said before that he believes Kaepernick will be revered in the future like other athletes who have stood and fought for social justice in the past.

Speaking after the U.S. team practice at the Los Angeles Lakers' practice facility on Tuesday, Popovich was asked about some of the divisiveness in the country today and about showing patriotism.

"Patriotism means a lot of things to different people," Popovich said. "There's people who are truly committed in that sense and people who are fake. The show of patriotism I think is a bit inappropriate and that is not something that I think we want to emulate. Because someone hugs a flag doesn't mean they're patriotic. Being a patriot is somebody that respects their country and understands that the best thing about our country is that we have the ability to fix things that have not come to fruition for a lot of people so far."

"All the promises in the beginning when the country was established is fantastic, but those goals have not been reached yet for a lot of people," Popovich continued. "So you can still be patriotic and understand that there still needs to be criticism and changes and more attention paid to those who do not have what other people do have, and that's where we've fallen short in a lot of different ways. Being a critic of those inequalities does not make you a non-patriot. It's what makes America great, that you can say those things and attack those things to make them better. That's what a lot of other countries don't have. You lose your freedom when you do that."

Popovich then praised Kaepernick, who last played for the 49ers in 2016 and said last week that he was "still ready" after more than two seasons out of the NFL.

"To negate that part of what we're able to do is ignorant on anybody's part who tries to make those people look unpatriotic," Popovich said. "Like a Kaepernick. That was a very patriotic thing he did. He cared about his country enough to fix some things that were obvious, that everybody knows about but does nothing about."

One topic Popovich did steer clear of was a recent comment made by Serbian national team coach Aleksandar "Sasha" Djordjevic about potentially playing against U.S. Djordjevic said that if the Americans and Serbians meet in next month's World Cup, "Let's let them play their basketball and we will play ours and if we meet, may God help them," according to Eurohoops.net and Mozzart Sport.

"You'll have to ask Sasha," Popovich said. "I don't really pay attention too much. I've been doing this too long. But he's a hell of a coach. He's a competitor, and he's been a hero in Europe as a player. He was fantastic, and they have a program that goes way back with a lot of success.

"They do have a heck of a team. There is no doubt about that. They're deep and talented, and they are going to work their fannies off. They want to win just like anybody else. People will talk, but that is usually not something I respond to."

U.S. point guard Kemba Walker welcomed the trash talk.

"I could care less, man," Walker told ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "Honestly, we're going to take it one game at a time. At the end of the day, we both have to make it to a certain place for us to even play each other."

"I guess when we get there, if we match up, then we'll see what's up," the veteran Boston Celtics player added. "But it's fine. I'm fine with a little bit of trash talking. I don't mind it at all."

Injury update: Fellow Celtics guard Marcus Smart remained sidelined because of tightness in his left calf.

"He's probably going to be day-to-day kind of thing but probably won't practice the next couple of days," Popovich said.