With the Portland Trail Blazers and Toronto Raptors each four wins away from a matchup in the NBA Finals, plans are being made to ensure Blazers starting center Enes Kanter can safely participate in all the games.

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden is sending a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on behalf of Kanter encouraging safe passage for the Turkish center to Canada for all games.

"I ask your government to facilitate Mr. Kanter's safe passage to and from Canada should the Portland Trail Blazers play the Toronto Raptors in Toronto, Canada, in the upcoming NBA Finals," the letter states. "I also urge your government to state publicly that it will not comply with any Interpol red notice meant to interfere with Mr. Kanter's livelihood and to intimidate him and his family back in Turkey."

Kanter has found strong support from Wyden since joining the Blazers in February after being bought out by the New York Knicks.

"I have full confidence to myself and my team to win the Western Conference finals," Kanter told ESPN via text message. "Going to Toronto will be a bit hectic for me for the reasons you know, and I know Senator Wyden is working hard to make sure that I can make it and I really appreciate it.

"On the other side, I know the Prime Minister of Canada, Mr. Justin Trudeau is a good leader and I have confidence in him to help with my situation," Kanter said. "I know this because he's already helping many more Turkish citizens, in the Hizmet movement, who are oppressed by the Dictator Erdogan regime right now."

Kanter has been an outspoken critic of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Kanter is aligned with Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who the Erdogan government accuses of helping orchestrate a failed coup attempt in 2016.

Because of safety concerns and issues with his immigration status, Kanter, who has a green card, did not travel with the Blazers to play the Raptors in early March. Kanter had his Turkish passport revoked in 2017 and has had a warrant out for his arrest in Turkey since January. Turkey also reportedly seeks an Interpol red notice for Kanter, which could result in him being detained and deported back to his home country.

"On another note, even if Senator Wyden and PM Trudeau does their best, Dictator Erdogan will try using/abusing all his powers to manipulate red notice system through Interpol," Kanter said in the text message. "As you know, I am a law abiding citizen both in Turkey and here in the U.S. -- I never broke a single law in my life, didn't even have a parking ticket, but Turkish government cancels my passport ... WHY? it's simply because I'm an outspoken critic of Dictator Erdogan. So, Erdogan might push all his chances through Interpol, which I believe he tries abusing it.

"Interpol should not let itself to get abused by any Dictator regime, including Erdogan's," Kanter said. "No matter whatever they do, I won't back down from my fight in the path of democracy, uplifting human rights and freedom of speech."

In January, when Kanter was with the New York Knicks, he did not travel to London for a game against the Washington Wizards, citing safety concerns.

"As President Erdogan continues taking Turkey down a dark, authoritarian road, Mr. Kanter is hardly the only person to face persecution," Wyden's letter to Trudeau says. "But without his Turkish passport -- and not yet able to qualify for an American passport -- Mr. Kanter does find himself in a particularly tenuous legal position resulting from being a public person using his bully pulpit to speak out against a dangerous bully.

"I have instructed my staff to work with our administration to ensure that Mr. Kanter could travel safely to Canada and return unimpeded in the event of a Portland-Toronto NBA series," it says. "I urge your government to ensure the same with respect to Mr. Kanter's ability to enter Canada, play in Canada, and then return safely and expeditiously to the United States. I also urge you to state publicly that your government will ignore any red notice against Mr. Kanter."

Kanter is in the process of becoming a United States citizen, but he won't have that finalized until 2021.

With the Blazers in the Western Conference finals, Turkish broadcaster S Sport will not televise the series against the Golden State Warriors.

"I can say clearly that we will not be broadcasting the Warriors-Blazers series," S Sport commentator Omer Sarac told Reuters. "Furthermore, if Portland makes it to the Finals, [that] will not be broadcast either ... This situation is not about us, but it is what it is."

According to NBA deputy commissioner and chief operating officer Mark Tatum, "fans in Turkey can watch all playoff games featuring Enes Kanter and the Portland Trail Blazers on NBA League Pass and NBA TV International."

Terry Rozier said Tuesday on ESPN First Take that he wouldn't be interested in returning to the Boston Celtics if the team decides to bring back the same cast next season.

"No, I might have to go. I might have to go. I put up with a lot this year so I said what I said after this season. I think we all know I'm not trying to step into that again," he said.

Rozier, a point guard, will be a restricted free agent this summer.

Rozier on Tuesday discussed what went wrong with the Celtics this season and having to take a lesser role with the return of Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, who both suffered season-ending injuries last season.

He was asked Tuesday to expand on his comments to Yahoo Sports after the Celtics were eliminated from the playoffs by the Milwaukee Bucks that he "sacrificed the most out of anybody" on the team this season.

"I sacrificed obviously my talent the most," he said. "I think me being out there and giving my full style of play, how Terry Rozier play. I feel like I couldn't be that person this year."

Rozier averaged 16.5 points, 5.3 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game in the playoffs last season, helping the Celtics reach the Eastern Conference finals. But with the return of Irving and Hayward, he became an afterthought.

"Obviously in the shadow of some guys ... the ball was in either Kyrie's or Gordon Hayward's hands most of the time. I feel like Terry Rozier was just in the corner or on the bench," he said.

He said he had a positive mindset before the season started, but once Irving announced to the fans that he would re-sign with Boston this summer as a free agent if they wanted him back, "things shifted left for me and I just seen the way people treated me with their attitudes and I was just thrown all the way in the backseat. I just had to adjust to that."

Irving will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

He acknowledged that coach Brad Stevens had a tough job this season with this Celtics squad.

"I feel like along with the coaches treating Gordon and Kyrie, I wouldn't say different than everybody else, but I just feel like they treated them like they was on that level where there were no adjustments that could be made because they are who they are," he said. "We never figured it out. We never figured it out after that."

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Portland Trail Blazers guard Rodney Hood was back on the court in Tuesday's Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, just two days after suffering a bone bruise in his left knee.

Hood was injured in the third quarter of Portland's Game 7 victory on Sunday in Denver, going down awkwardly after Nuggets guard Torrey Craig set a back screen on him.

"I'm solid," Hood said after warming up. "There's still some soreness. It's just something that I'm going to have to manage and deal with it."

Hood did not return to Sunday's contest, and the Trail Blazers originally referred to the injury as a hyperextended left knee. An MRI revealed a bone bruise, and Hood was listed as questionable for Game 1 against the Golden State Warriors.

Hood, who was acquired in a midseason trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers, played a critical role in Portland's Western Conference semifinals series victory. He averaged 14.7 points per game on 57.6 percent shooting off the bench, highlighted by a 25-point performance in the Blazers' Game 6 win in Portland.

MILWAUKEE -- Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks are hoping to avoid a carbon copy of their semifinal series against the Boston Celtics.

The Bucks won the series, taking the last four games, and they haven't forgotten the 22-point whomping the Celtics delivered in Game 1.

Antetokounmpo said giving up Game 1 to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday in the Eastern Conference finals could be a death knell.

"Against Boston, you can go down 1-0 and still be fine," Antetokounmpo said at practice Tuesday. "But against Toronto, it's hard to be in that spot when you lose the first game in your home."

Antetokounmpo said he regards Kawhi Leonard as one of the best players in the league. Leonard hit a game-winning, deep-corner jumper in Game 7 against the 76ers to send the Raptors to the Eastern Conference finals.

Antetokounmpo admitted that he didn't think the shot, which rattled around the rim four times, would go in.

"I'm not gonna lie," Antetokounmpo said. "I thought it was gonna go to overtime.

"I was talking to my family. I was watching the game, and I told them that Toronto has some soft rims, so when you shoot the ball, it tends to bounce around the rim, and it goes in sometimes, so you always have a chance if you shoot the ball with an arc. And I was saying that, and in the fourth quarter, he hit the shot."

CHICAGO -- Ahead of this year's NBA draft lottery, the New Orleans Pelicans held a contest for a season-ticket holder to submit a lucky charm to wish the team success.

The winner, Connie Halphen, gave Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin a 56-year-old wooden angel.

It turned out to be exactly what the Pelicans needed.

New Orleans leapt up from the seventh spot to the top of this year's draft Tuesday night, earning the right to take Zion Williamson in next month's NBA Draft. The Pelicans had just a 6 percent chance to win the lottery.

"Connie had a good luck charm and it happened to be an angel," Griffin said. "It was fitting."

New Orleans winning the lottery capped a wild night that saw three teams -- the Pelicans, Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Lakers -- leap far up the order, throwing chaos into one of the most anticipated drafts in recent memory.

The first shock was when the Lakers were revealed to have jumped up from the 11th spot -- a moment that grew gasps from the crowd inside the Chicago Hilton ballroom. A similar reaction occurred when the Washington Wizards were revealed to have the ninth pick -- meaning the Grizzlies and Pelicans had jumped up.

"I wasn't good enough at math to realize when the Washington Wizards came up ninth," Griffin said with a smile. "It's an incredible blessing for our organization."

#PELICANS TICKET OFFICE IS WILDIN!!' ??? #BirdStrikes pic.twitter.com/meihqCrWdd

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) May 15, 2019

The next piece of drama came when the fifth selection was waiting to be unveiled. After a moment, NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum revealed that the Cleveland Cavaliers would have the fifth pick -- meaning the New York Knicks, who had the worst record last season, had jumped up into the top four.

"I just sat back and hoped it was going to be No. 1," said Patrick Ewing, the team's last No. 1 pick, 34 years ago, and who was representing the Knicks on the dais here.

It wasn't to be, though, as the Lakers would get the fourth pick and the Knicks the third. The winner wound then come down to either the Grizzlies or Pelicans -- two teams that had tied, along with the Dallas Mavericks, for the seventh-best odds.

The Pelicans got the benefit of the pingpong balls bouncing their way last month to receive the seventh lottery spot. They then got them again Tuesday in winning the chance to select Williamson.

"I don't want to focus on individual players," Griffin said with a smile, shortly after being mobbed by New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry, "but I think it's really good at the top."

Williamson told ESPN's Maria Taylor that he has never been to New Orleans, but he said he will bring his "will to win" to whichever team ends up drafting him.

"I don't know why, I'm just still nervous," Williamson said. "Maybe because ... all eyes were on me. And I think it's a lot to take in, 'cause I don't know where I'm gonna be."

This year marked the first time since 2005 that the NBA's lottery system underwent any changes. Under the prior system, having the worst record in the NBA meant having a 25 percent chance of winning the top pick, with each subsequent pick down to the final spot in the lottery -- the 14th selection -- having a lesser chance of winning. The league would draw for each of the top three spots in the lottery.

Starting this year, however, the teams with the three worst records had the exact same chance -- 14 percent -- of winning the lottery, followed by a much more gradual change in the percentages of jumping up. In addition, the NBA boosted the number of lottery spots available for the drawing from three to four.

The changes came in response to the league seeing an issue with teams tanking for top selections in the draft -- and after the team with the worst record had won the lottery in each of the past four seasons.

The New York Yankees acquired first baseman/designated hitter Kendrys Morales and cash considerations from the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

Morales had hit at least 20 home runs in each of the previous four seasons, and he has 212 homers in his 13-year career.

The A's had designated Morales for assignment on Monday. The 35-year-old was hitting just .204 with one home run and seven RBIs in 108 at-bats. He had made 23 starts at first base this season.

In announcing the DFA, A's manager Bob Melvin said, "Unfortunately, we had to let him go. I'll tell you what, this guy, maybe he didn't put up big numbers, but this is a terrific teammate."

The A's acquired Morales from the Toronto Blue Jays before the season.

With first baseman Matt Olson returning last week after missing 34 games with a hand injury and Morales struggling at the plate, Morales' spot on the roster had been in question.

To make room on the 40-man roster, the Yankees transferred right-handed pitcher Jonathan Loaisiga to the 60-day injured list.

New York Yankees third baseman Miguel Andujar will make a decision on whether to undergo shoulder surgery that would likely end his season in the next 24 hours, according to manager Aaron Boone.

Andujar, 24, missed more than a month because of a labrum tear in his right shoulder. He returned from the injured list last week but managed only three hits in 34 at-bats, prompting the Yankees to send him for more tests on his shoulder.

Andujar returned to the 10-day injured list on Monday, one day before an MRI showed no change in his shoulder from the MRI in April that revealed the tear, Boone said Tuesday.

Boone said Andujar will talk the situation over with his family and the team and make a determination on what's next, either a return to rehab or surgery.

SEATTLE -- Seattle Mariners starter Felix Hernandez is expected to miss four to six weeks after being diagnosed with a grade 1 lat strain in his right side.

Seattle manager Scott Servais said Tuesday that an MRI revealed the extent of the injury. Hernandez was placed on the 10-day injured list on Sunday and was originally diagnosed as having a shoulder strain. Servais said the injury is similar to the lat strain suffered by Hunter Strickland early in the season, just not as severe.

Hernandez landed on the injured list a day after he pitched 2 1/3 innings against Boston, giving up six hits and seven earned runs in his second-shortest start of the season. Hernandez lasted only one inning in April against Kansas City, but left that game because of an illness.

Hernandez said he's hopeful he will be out only a couple of weeks.

LOS ANGELES -- Major League Baseball has placed Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias on administrative leave in the wake of his Monday arrest on suspicion of domestic violence.

Urias was arrested and charged with domestic battery after an alleged physical altercation with a woman in the parking lot of the Beverly Center, an upscale shopping mall in L.A., at 7:30 p.m. PT, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. He was released at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday after posting $20,000 bail and did not join his teammates later in the afternoon.

MLB said it was conducting an investigation into the matter and is "in the process of gathering facts" while Urias is on administrative leave.

In a statement Tuesday morning, the Dodgers said the team also was gathering information and would have no further comment. Manager Dave Roberts met with the media before the Dodgers' home game against the San Diego Padres and said he was "choosing my words wisely," adding, "I don't know the facts."

"Obviously, it's not ideal in any sense of the word," Roberts said. "But until we know more, it just doesn't behoove me to make any comments. Fortunately, Major League Baseball is kind of digging into this, as it well should. We'll know more later."

In the meantime, the Dodgers, who should soon benefit from the return of lefties Tony Cingrani and Caleb Ferguson, added right-handed reliever JT Chargois to the active roster.

Urias' leave expires after seven days, but the league can extend it until its investigation is complete. Urias can also technically come off leave before the seven-day mark, but in prior circumstances, this process has dragged out for several weeks and even months.

Eleven players have been investigated and nine have been suspended since 2016, the first full season of MLB's current domestic violence policy. Suspensions ranged from 15 games (Steven Wright and Jeurys Familia) to 100 (Jose Torres). In between were cases involving household names such as Jose Reyes (51-game suspension), Aroldis Chapman (30 games), Addison Russell (40) and Roberto Osuna (75).

The Astros caught flak for acquiring Osuna in the wake of his domestic violence suspension, as did the Cubs for activating Russell last week.

"Every allegation of domestic violence must be taken seriously and addressed promptly," the Dodgers said in their statement, "and we will cooperate fully with the authorities and Major League Baseball to ensure that that happens in this case."

Urias is considered one of the most promising young pitchers in the league. He was beginning to build a special connection with the Dodgers' fan base in L.A. largely because of his Mexican heritage, drawing comparisons to Fernando Valenzuela.

Urias was in the big leagues at 19 in 2016, then spent most of the next two seasons recovering from shoulder surgery. He returned for the Dodgers' playoff run last October, pitching effectively out of the bullpen, then made his first Opening Day roster in 2019. Urias, now 22, began this season in the rotation, then moved to the bullpen -- gradually pitching in higher-leverage situations -- partly so that the Dodgers could monitor his innings.

The Dodgers were open to the possibility of Urias helping out as a starting pitcher once again during the stretch run.

Now they don't know when, if ever, they will get him back.

"Major League Baseball is going through their process and trying to get all the facts, getting as much information as they can," Roberts said. "Right now, we're going to kind of stand pat, let the process run its course."

BOSTON -- Red Sox ace Chris Sale struck out a career-high 17 in just seven innings against Colorado, then was pulled after 108 pitches on a chilly Tuesday night at Fenway Park.

Sale became the first pitcher in major league history to fan 17 in a start of no more than seven innings.

The big league record for strikeouts in nine innings is 20, done five times. Roger Clemens did it twice for Boston, Kerry Wood and Randy Johnson also accomplished the feat and Max Scherzer was the last to do it, in 2016.

When Boston manager Alex Cora told Sale he was coming out, the lefty used his fingers to form the number 20.

Sale surpassed his previous best of 15 strikeouts, dominating the Rockies with a firm fastball and a sharp slider. A seven-time All-Star, Sale struck out the first six batters and fanned eight through three innings. He didn't allow a runner until Mark Reynolds doubled to begin the fifth.

Sale gave up three hits, including a two-run homer to Nolan Arenado, didn't walk anyone and left with a 3-2 lead. Brandon Workman relieved to begin the eighth and gave up a two-run homer to Charlie Blackmon.

The 17 strikeouts are the most by any pitcher in a game since Scherzer struck out 20 on May 11, 2016, against Detroit, and the most by a Red Sox pitcher since Pedro Martinez had 17 in 2000.

In his last outing Wednesday against the Baltimore Orioles, Sale had 14 strikeouts in eight innings. He is the first pitcher to record at least 14 strikeouts in consecutive starts since Clayton Kershaw in 2015 (Aug. 28-Sept. 2).

It's the second time in Sale's career that he has recorded at least 14 strikeouts in consecutive starts (also done in 2015). He's the third Red Sox pitcher in the live ball era (since 1920) to do so, joining Pedro Martinez, who did it three times, and Roger Clemens, who did it twice.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.