NBA stars Deandre Ayton and Buddy Hield are helping raise money to aid their native Bahamas, which was devastated by Hurricane Dorian.

Ayton, the Phoenix Suns center, announced Friday that he and his family are pledging $100,000 toward relief efforts in the archipelago nation of 400,000.

He also asked Suns fans to donate toiletries, diapers, cleaning supplies and canned goods, as well as money, at an event Tuesday.

"My heart goes out to my fellow Bahamians," Ayton said in a statement on social media.

Hield, the Sacramento Kings guard, has set up a GoFundMe page and has donated $100,000. The Sacramento Kings Foundation, Buddy Hield Foundation, Ranadive Foundation and the Jacobs Family are contributing a collective donation of $105,000 to UNICEF USA. Hield said his goal is to raise $1 million. As of Friday afternoon, he had raised $113,773.

Hield joined Scott Van Pelt on SportsCenter on Thursday night to talk about the effort.

"Seeing footage for what Hurricane Dorian has done to the islands, it left me heartbroken," Hield said. "The Bahamas is in a really bad place right now. People have gotten sick really bad, and hospitals are being damaged."

Dorian blasted the Bahamas with 185 mph winds that obliterated homes. According to officials, 30 people have been confirmed dead, and the toll is expected to rise, as thousands are missing. There is still severe flooding on the island, and the search for survivors and victims continues.

SHENZHEN, China -- When playing in an international tournament, much of the challenge for Team USA is dealing with all the foreign aspects. From location to opposition to the rules, it's as big of an opponent as anything at the World Cup in China.

But now it's the familiar that is the concern.

Oh, does Team USA know their next opponent well. Two of his Milwaukee Bucks teammates are on the roster. Three Boston Celtics now wearing the flag were vanquished by him during the playoffs just a couple months ago. The rest of the American players have had to hear for weeks that they don't have the star power of other teams like his.

Saturday's World Cup second-round game against Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece (ESPN+, 8:30 a.m. ET) presents one of the most unique challenges Team USA has faced in modern times. There is just no one in the world like him, and their awareness of it only makes it more daunting.

"This is a special situation," said Team USA center Brook Lopez, who won 60 games alongside Antetokounmpo last season. "This is different from Team USA's past."

Team Brazil coach Aleksandar Petrovic said he plotted for six months how he was going to defend Antetokounmpo. It was a surprise game plan as he used Alex Garcia, who is 39 years old and about 8 inches shorter, as primary defender with the task to be physical and knock Antetokounmpo out of his game. Antetokounmpo scored just 13 points, fouled out and Greece lost in overtime. Petrovic, the brother of late Serbian legend Drazen Petrovic, gloated about it afterward.

Team USA coach Gregg Popovich doesn't gloat. But he's likely been plotting his own Antetokounmpo strategy for weeks. Though it wasn't assured until Thursday night, when looking at the brackets there seemed to be a strong likelihood that the U.S. would face Greece in this round.

Antetokounmpo hasn't loved this experience so far and his team's overall play has underwhelmed a bit. Officials in FIBA games often allow more contact than in the NBA and will never be accused of protecting star players, which Brazil smartly leveraged.

In fact, often it is the opposite: They allow the big names to be beat up more than they'd allow others. This has been a source of frustration for American big men for years; it was a contributing factor in Tim Duncan quitting the national team last decade.

On Tuesday, when he scored 24 points with 10 rebounds in a win over New Zealand to clinch a chance to face the U.S., Antetokounmpo played with anger. His jutting jaw and relentless basket attacks that made him the MVP were back, perhaps as a reaction to Brazil's treatment of him and the importance of the game. Had the Greeks lost, they would have been out of the World Cup and in a precarious position in trying to qualify for next summer's Olympics.

Greece has been playing Antetokounmpo at center a lot, which doesn't happen in the NBA, mostly because this way he can easily attack the zone defenses that are common in the World Cup. Team USA doesn't play zone, which may actually make Antetokounmpo more comfortable as he can go back to perimeter playmaking like he does for the Bucks.

"In the NBA you know each night the Os and Xs and what people are going to run and that sort of thing," Popovich said. "But here every team has a different take on the way they want to play. It's actually enjoyable and challenging as each team is a different artwork to be figured out."

Jeff Van Gundy, who has done a lot of praising of Antetokounmpo as lead analyst for ABC and ESPN, has changed roles and is acting as head scout for Team USA currently. He's been deeply studying Greece and deciphering what they might have saved for the Americans. And it does sound like the Greeks, who beat Team USA with a precision offensive game plan back in the 2006 World Cup, have been saving something up.

"The situation with Giannis, it's a little bit complicated ... you have to protect Giannis and his health. So you have to take care of the times he plays," Greece coach Thanasis Skourtopoulos said. "Against the USA it's good for him. He knows the mentality of the way they play. It's not like the European teams with the FIBA regulation. So now is the time for him to increase playing time and increase everything during the game."

Antetokounmpo has averaged only 25 minutes per game in three games thus far. But with the Greeks facing elimination if they lose, plus the value of a chance at a vulnerable American team, the expectation is that Antetokounmpo will leave it all on the floor Saturday. With the U.S. missing Jayson Tatum (ankle) and with Marcus Smart (quad) questionable, their defensive options have been limited.

"We go as far as Giannis goes. He's a big impact for us," said Greece guard Nick Calathes. "We'll be ready to go, we're not afraid of anybody. We'll be prepared."

One good sign for the Americans was the strong play of Jaylen Brown in Tuesday's win over Japan. While Harrison Barnes and Giannis' Bucks teammate Khris Middleton figure to be getting duty trying to deal with Antetokounmpo, Brown likely will be relied upon because he's perhaps Team USA's best option. Brown was part of the Celtics group that Antetokounmpo vanquished in the second round of last season's playoffs, averaging 28 points and 11 rebounds.

Will that experience help or hurt Brown now that he's got this chance at a measure of redemption?

"I guess we'll see pretty soon," Brown said. "I'm looking forward to it."

Yusniel Padron-Artiles was a 22nd-round pick of the Boston Red Sox and isn't ranked anywhere on the ballclub's top-prospects list.

But Thursday, the 21-year-old right-hander put together the type of performance that certainly will garner some attention.

Padron-Artiles came on in relief for the Class A Lowell Spinners and struck out 14 batters -- including a record 12 straight -- in six innings of a 2-1 win over Batavia in a New York-Penn League semifinal playoff series in Massachusetts.

The Spinners say the 12 straight strikeouts set a minor league record. The most consecutive strikeouts in the majors came from Tom Seaver in 1970, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Seaver fanned 10 in a row.

Yusniel Padron-Artilles was DEALING last night! 12 consecutive strikeouts and a W! #GatorUp @MLBNetwork @MiLB @RedSox @MLBPipeline pic.twitter.com/VtQbpCZhKC

— Lowell Spinners (@LowellSpinners) September 6, 2019

Padron-Artiles attended Miami Dade Community College South and was picked in the 22nd round of the 2018 draft. He split the 2019 season between Class A Greenville and Lowell, going 7-1 with a 2.67 ERA for the latter.

On Thursday, he relieved touted Red Sox prospect Jay Groome in the fourth inning and proceeded to strike out 12 straight Muckdogs before allowing a leadoff single to start the eighth inning.

"It was a very important game, and I knew I had to give all I had and leave it all on the field," Padron-Artilles, a native of Cuba, said through an interpreter, according to the Lowell Sun. "Going into the game, my mindset was to get every pitch to work. Get the curveball over and finish them off with the fastball."

With the win, the Spinners forced a decisive Game 3 of the series Friday.

"[Padron-Artilles] got us that win," Spinners first baseman Joe Davis told the Sun. "If it wasn't for him, that's a different game. We all could feed off his energy. You could see it on the mound. You could see it on the bench. You just had to feed off him, and that's what we did."

All but one of the division races are looking settled, but that doesn't mean there aren't storylines that capture the imagination around baseball. Here's what has our attention this weekend:

The two National League teams with the best chance of knocking off the Dodgers right now seem to be the Braves and Nationals, who opened a four-game series Thursday. Who would be a tougher playoff foe for L.A. -- Atlanta or Washington?

Eddie Matz: Sure, the Nationals' offense has been busting out the whooping stick. And yes, their top three of Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin are stronger than Atlanta's (even if Scherzer isn't back to his old self by the playoffs). But the Braves are good. Like, really good. So good that Washington, which has the best record in baseball since May 24, can't seem to make up any ground in the NL East. The only reason to pick Washington here would be the rotation. But October is about bullpens, and Atlanta's is way better. So I'd say the Braves would be the tougher out for L.A.

Sam Miller: The unsatisfying answer is that it's the Nationals because it's easier to beat a far superior opponent in a smaller sample than a larger one. If the Nationals get past the wild-card game, they'll face the Dodgers in a best-of-five series. If the Braves get past the division series, they'll meet the Dodgers in a best-of-seven. But take that technicality out of it, and Eddie's probably right. Washington has the edge at the top of the rotation, but if we look at each team just in games that their top three have started, the Nationals haven't actually shown that advantage: They're 47-32 when Scherzer, Strasburg or Corbin starts, while the Braves are 46-22 when Max Fried, Dallas Keuchel or Mike Soroka does. The Nationals' bullpen is just toxic.

David Schoenfield: It's pretty remarkable, really: Even with that toxic bullpen, the Nationals do have that best record in the majors over an extended period of time. That suggests that they're so good everywhere else that they can overcome the bullpen, although I have a difficult time imagining Fernando Rodney getting through Cody Bellinger, Justin Turner and Max Muncy in a crucial situation. So maybe it gets to some of the other matchups, and since the Dodgers are better against right-handed pitching with all their lefty mashers (their OPS is 45 points higher against righties), maybe the Braves with lefty starters Fried and Keuchel have an edge there, as the Nationals have just one lefty in Corbin. Then again, Soroka's OPS against lefties is 200 points higher than vs. righties, so that's a tough matchup for him. I guess I'm back to Fernando Rodney. The Braves are the tougher foe.

With a nod toward Sunday night's Yankees-Red Sox game (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET) and to Buster Olney (we're stealing his Twitter poll question), what do you think will happen to Mookie Betts -- he gets traded this winter, he gets traded next summer, he leaves Boston as a free agent after 2020, or he signs a long-term deal to stay with the Sox?

Matz: As disappointing as this season has been for Boston, there's no reason to think that the defending champs can't rebound and make another run next year, which is why general manager Dave Dombrowski won't trade Betts this winter. If the World Series hangover lingers into 2020 and the Sox find themselves hovering around .500 next July, I could see Dealer Dave going the Manny Machado route and shipping Mookie elsewhere to restock a farm system that has fallen on hard times. But I don't think that happens. As for an extension, I don't think that happens either because Betts is too in touch with the whole marketing and business side of things. Despite the recent free-agent depression, he knows he could make a killing. Which is exactly what will happen.

Miller: OK, I could maybe imagine a big-market team that's projected to win, say, 90-92 wins next year, in a tough division, deciding that Mookie Betts would be the difference between making and missing the 2020 postseason. And maybe it thinks continuity would give it a better chance of signing him when he hits free agency, so there would be some extra benefit to having him on the team before his walk year. Put those together and maybe that club would be willing to offer something absolutely overwhelming to employ him for the 2020 season. The team that best describes is ... the Red Sox. They'll keep him until his free agency, and then they'll be the favorite to re-sign him.

Schoenfield: My prediction: Mookie stays ... and then Mookie leaves as a free agent. (He signs with the Angels to give Mike Trout some help, plus Mookie will relish being out of the media spotlight in Boston and letting Trout be the guy. Or maybe he signs with the Rangers, who will need a star attraction in the second year of their new park. Wait, the Astros! George Springer and Michael Brantley are also free agents after 2020. How about the Braves? Mookie is from Tennessee and that's close to home. Or maybe ...)

There are a few other series with potential playoff teams squaring off: Indians-Twins, Cubs-Brewers and Phillies-Mets. Which of those series do you find most intriguing?

Miller: The Cubs and Brewers, just because of the animus. None of these teams are really competing with each other for a playoff spot right now: The Twins have a firm grip on the American League Central, the Phillies and Mets are playing more for respectability and relevance than realistic hopes, and the Brewers are almost certainly gassed out. But the Brewers and Cubs can at least play for the privilege of severely harshing a rival's mood. The Cubs can essentially end the Brewers' season; the Brewers could move the panic index in Chicago to orange.

Schoenfield: I've probably watched the Mets more than any other team this season (I live in Connecticut, so the Mets, Yankees and Red Sox are my local teams), so why quit now? Plus, there's the chance that Bryce Harper does something wonderful in what has been a decidedly blah season for him, or that Jacob deGrom pitches a no-hitter, or that the Mets blow a six-run lead in the ninth. Wait, that last one is silly. That could never happen.

Matz: I'm not terribly intrigued by any of them, really. At least not from a playoff perspective. Because you'd have to squint pretty hard to convince yourself that any of these three matchups have serious playoff implications at this point. Having said that, Minny and Cleveland are the two best baseball teams among the six in question here. And all things being equal, I'd rather watch good baseball than bad baseball. So I'll go with the Twindians series.

PICK 'EM TIME

Circling back to Braves-Nats, which trio of teammates will have more total bases this weekend: Atlanta's Freddie Freeman, Ronald Acuna Jr. and Josh Donaldson or Washington's Anthony Rendon, Juan Soto and Trea Turner?

Schoenfield: Oh, this is a good one. Rendon is locked in right now, but so is Donaldson. Freeman has been Mr. Consistent Superstar all season long. I'll give the edge to the Braves' trio -- they'll get to face the Nationals' bullpen at some point.

Miller: Atlanta has home field, Washington has the hotness. Rendon and Soto are both in the top 10 in total bases in the second half, and even Turner is within single digits of the Atlanta three. I don't usually put much faith in hotness. Atlanta wins this one.

Matz: When it comes to total bases, round-trippers reign supreme. While Atlanta's troika consists of three legit long-ball threats, that's not the case with Washington, where the speedy Turner (13 homers) sticks out like a sore thumb among the sextet involved here. I'll take the Braves bashers.

Cardinals righty Jack Flaherty is on quite a roll (0.59 ERA over his past seven starts). Baserunners allowed by Flaherty vs. the Pirates on Sunday: over or under 5.5?

Schoenfield: Flaherty not only has a 0.59 ERA over seven starts, but he has a 0.90 ERA and .141 average allowed over his past 11 starts. I watched his last start against the Giants (one hit in eight innings) and it was complete domination: He threw just 29 balls to 26 batters faced and his 100th pitch was 97 mph, his hardest of the game. Buster Olney compared him to a young Justin Verlander: He's got the size, he's got the stuff and he's starting to show he has the ability to pitch deep into games. Is he the best pitcher in baseball? The track record isn't long enough to declare that, but he's certainly the hottest. Under 5.5.

Matz: As hot as Flaherty has been, the Pirates' offense has been just as hot. Over the past two weeks, Pittsburgh has a .381 on-base percentage and is averaging 7.2 runs per game, both best in the majors. Over, please.

Miller: I figured this would be an easy over, but the under would have won in six of Flaherty's past eight starts -- and he allowed only six runners in the other two. Still, the Pirates have the biggest platoon split in baseball, roping right-handers for a .275/.338/.446 line. I think the over is right; can I convince you to count hit batsmen?

TWO TRUE OUTCOMES

Each week, we ask our panelists to choose one hitter they think will hit the most home runs and one pitcher they think will record the most strikeouts in the coming weekend. Panelists can pick a player only once for the season. We'll keep a running tally -- and invite you to play along at home.

Home run hitters

Matz: Jorge Soler

Miller: Pete Alonso

Schoenfield: Alex Bregman

Strikeout pitchers

Matz: Robbie Ray

Miller: Mike Clevinger

Schoenfield: Patrick Corbin

British sprinter takes 100m victory at Diamond League final while Malaika Mihambo, Christian Taylor and Noah Lyles also impress

The IAAF World Championships in Doha kicks off in three weeks’ time and Dina Asher-Smith showed in Brussels on Friday (Sept 6) that she will be a force to be reckoned with in the Qatari capital as she sped to 100m victory in 10.88.

It was a season’s best for Asher-Smith and just three hundredths outside her British record despite cool conditions and a slight headwind of -0.3m/sec.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica was left seven hundredths of a second behind (pictured above) with Marie Josée Ta Lou third and Dafne Schippers fourth.

Dina Asher-Smith reacts to her big Brussels 100m win. #BrusselsDL pic.twitter.com/MwNpn9hjwk

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) September 6, 2019

Noah Lyles enjoyed another good win as the American clocked 19.74 (0.8) to win the 200m ahead of world champion Ramil Guliyev’s 19.86 and Andre De Grasse’s 19.87. Last week Lyles won the 100m trophy at the first Diamond League final in Zurich.

Christian Taylor won the big triple jump clash against in-form fellow American Will Claye. Taylor’s winning leap was a slightly wind-assisted 17.85m (2.1m) as Claye jumped 17.22 (1.1) but his second-best effort of 17.66m (0.1) beat Jonathan Edwards’ long-standing meeting record.

Katerina Stefanidi beat a strong field to win the women’s pole vault with a first-time clearance at 4.83m as Britain’s Holly Bradshaw finished fifth with 4.70m.

Malaika Mihambo of Germany has been in great form all year and sealed the Diamond League title long jump title here with 7.03m (-0.9). Brittney Reece of the United States moved into second with a final round effort of 6.85m, just ahead of heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who leapt 6.73m (-0.2) in the first round, while fellow Brit Lorraine Ugen jumped a season’s best 6.70m (1.0) in fifth.

KJT on her third place in the long jump in Brussels with 6.73m. @JohnsonThompson @stuartweir #brusselsDL pic.twitter.com/v4iUhx4J0D

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) September 6, 2019

Sifan Hassan impressed in the 5000m as she ran a sub-60 last lap to win in 14:26.26 ahead of Letesenbet Gidey, Konstanze Klosterhalfen and world cross-country champion Hellen Obiri.

After some uneven pacing in the men’s 1500m, Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya took the win in 3:30.22 as he held off Norwegian brothers Jakob (3:31.62) and Filip Ingebrigtsen (3:33.33).

Danielle Williams clocked 12.46 for an emphatic 100m hurdles win ahead of Keni Harrison (12.73) and Nia Ali (12.74), while in the men’s sprint hurdles Orlando Ortego ran 13.22 (0.0) for victory as Andy Pozzi, on the comeback from injury, ran 13.50 in sixth.

Mike Norman powered down the home straight to win the 400m in 44.26 from Fred Kerley (44.46) and Akeem Bloomfield (44.67).

In the women’s discus, Yaime Perez of Cuba won with 68.27m from Sandra Perkovic’s 66.00m, while Daniel Stahl of Sweden took the men’s discus title with 68.68m.

Mariya Lasitskene’s winning streak continued as she posted another high jump victory with 1.99m to beat Yuliya Levchenko by two centimetres as local star Nafi Thiam, the Olympic and world heptathlon champion, was third with 1.95m.

As the meeting and Diamond League season for 2019 drew to a close, Ajee Wilson ran 2:00.24 to win the women’s 800m from fellow American Raevyn Rogers as Britain’s Lynsey Sharp was sixth in 2:01.47.