The Tennessee Titans are expected to take Miami quarterback Cam Ward with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft.

Elijah Arroyo – a tight end who worked closely with Ward during their lone season together with the Hurricanes – believes that would be a great move for Tennessee.

Arroyo was asked during an appearance on NFL Network’s ‘Good Morning Football’ what the Titans would get in Ward should select him with the top pick in the 2025 NFL draft.

‘They’re getting a dog,’ Arroyo responded.

While Arroyo was complimentary of Ward’s athletic skill set and playmaking abilities, he believes there is another critical factor that will allow his teammate to quickly find success in Tennessee.

‘I mean, you’ve seen it on film, you’ve seen what he can do, but I would say most importantly, they’re getting an elite leader,’ Arroyo said, referencing Ward’s fit with the Titans. ‘Just, off-the-field, he came in from Day 1 and he just brought everybody in and made us closer. The whole team was willing to work.’

Ward helped lead Miami to its first 10-win season since 2017 after transferring over from Washington State. He completed 67.2% of his passes for 4,313 yards, an FBS-best 39 passing touchdowns and 7 interceptions while adding 204 yards and 4 touchdowns on the ground.

Ward’s strong performance led him to a fourth-place finish in the Heisman Trophy voting. He also kept the Hurricanes in the College Football Playoff hunt for most of the season.

The Titans will be hoping Ward can lead a similar turnaround as they prepare to make him the 2025 NFL draft’s top selection.

The 2022 NCAA woman of the year was one of six people who died in a plane crash Saturday in upstate New York.

Former MIT soccer player Karenna Groff died when the twin-engine plane crashed in Copake, New York, killing everyone on board – including members of her family – according to officials and family members who spoke to the New York Times and the Associated Press.

The Mitsubishi MU-2B was headed to Columbia County Airport in Hudson, New York, when it crashed into an open field about 20 miles southeast of the airport. The incident is under investigation by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board. 

Who was Karenna Groff?

A native of Weston, Massachusetts, Groff was a Division III All-American soccer player at MIT while studying biomedical engineering. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she co-founded a company that helped create a new design of masks for essential workers. For her on- and off-field accomplishments, Groff received the prestigious NCAA woman of the year award.

‘Really, this recognition is a testament to my MIT women’s soccer family and all of the guidance, support and friendship they have provided for me over the years,’ she said in a 2023 interview.

At MIT, Groff was a three-time all-conference forward and was the second-leading scorer in school history. A two-time team captain, she tied the school record with four goals in one game against Worcester State in 2019 and ranks second on MIT’s career goals list with 50.

She was also a first-team Academic All-American in 2021 and second team in 2020 and 2022.

In addition to being named NCAA woman of the year for 2022, she was a previous nominee for the award in 2021.

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast.Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

NEW YORK – New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge has agreed to be the newest ‘Captain America’ at the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

On Monday morning, a post to MLB’s social media accounts depicted Judge in a Team USA jersey.

This would mark Judge’s first WBC participation, having previously cited his commitment to the Yankees and preparing for the season as reasons for remaining in spring training for the March event.

The last WBC ended memorably, as Shohei Ohtani struck out then-Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout in Japan’s thrilling victory over the U.S. in 2023.

Mark DeRosa returns as Team USA manager

According to MLB.com former big leaguer and current MLB Network analyst Mark DeRosa will return as manager of Team USA, with the first round of games scheduled for March 6-11 at the Houston Astros’ Daikin Park.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – At some point generations from now, after all of us are long gone, they will look back at the records and the numbers and the championships under Rory McIlroy’s name and think that all of it was inevitable, that one of the great players in the history of golf simply did what he was always destined to do.

But sports don’t work that way. Life doesn’t work that way.

So let it be said here and for posterity that the story of how McIlroy won the 89th Masters on Sunday, becoming the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam, was an 11-year journey of doubts and disappointments, of resilience and reckoning, of vexation before validation.

Anyone who says this was preordained for one of the most talented golfers to ever pick up a club wasn’t there as Masters after Masters passed, as the carefree kid grew into his mid-30s, as each gutting loss fed the cycle of cynicism and time started to seem a little more precious as it tends to do for an athlete who wanted something so badly.

“I’ve carried that burden since 2014,” McIlroy said, referring to the year he won the Open Championship to get three-fourths of the way there. “Thankfully now I don’t have to carry it.”

Goodness, even the idea that this was all going to end Sunday at dusk with McIlroy on the 18th green at Augusta National, flipping the putter over the back of his head, dropping to his knees and elbows on the green in an uncontrollable heaving sob, mouth agape screaming to the sky seemed unlikely, then certain, then unlikely, then certain again to who-the-hell-knows within the span of five stomach-churning hours.

When McIlroy double-bogeyed the first hole, briefly coughing up the lead to Bryson DeChambeau as they walked to the third tee, a sense of dread crept into the massive galleries that the worst might be happening again. And then at the very moment it seemed like McIlroy had the tournament sewn up, the worst did happen at No. 13 when he made one of the most inexplicable double-bogeys in nearly a century of golf here, sparking a sequence of holes and shots so improbable that we can safely call this the most dramatic Masters ever played.

“Just a complete roller coaster of emotions,” McIlroy said.

And perhaps more than that, the notion that there was always going to be a Masters out there for McIlroy to finish the Grand Slam sells short something about him far more interesting than his gift to hit a golf ball. Of anyone who has ever achieved immortal things in sport, McIlroy is inescapably human. He feels, he emotes, he shares, he thinks, perhaps to his detriment. And he has taken all the fans of this game on a journey that shows us, perhaps more than any other athlete of his caliber, just how vulnerable, fragile and, yes, how mentally tough, he can be.

“You’ve had Jack (Nicklaus), Gary (Player), Tom (Watson), Tiger (Woods), you name it come through here and all say I’ll win the Masters one day,” he said. “That’s a hard load to carry. These are idols of mine and it’s very flattering that they all come up here and believe in me and my abilities to win this tournament and achieve the Grand Slam and all that. But it doesn’t help.”

We cannot rob McIlroy of what that journey has been like because seeing every dimension of his genius and his fallibility careening across Augusta National on Sunday until he finally delivered the wedge and the putt that beat Justin Rose in an improbable playoff is what his appeal is really all about.  

For all the millions of dollars, the four major championships he won as a young man, the adoration across the globe, McIlroy made it such that you never knew if this day would come until he knew. And you only needed to take one look at him walking off the 18th green, the tension on his face replaced by relief, to understand that he didn’t know either.

This could only happen one way. We had to get the full Rory: Frustrating, daring, exhilarating, exhausting and ultimately spellbinding.

“We were sort of part of history today,” Rose said. “Someone won the career Grand Slam. It’s a momentous day in the game of golf and quite rightly fans are going to be excited about that. He’s captivating to watch, he’s a great player, he plays with so much style and charisma ‒ and you never quite know as well because he’s made a few mistakes under pressure and (fans) want to keep watching, keep guessing.”

Thankfully, they don’t need to guess anymore.

Because as many times as McIlroy has left a major in the past decade wondering what-if over one bad driver swing, one nervous putt, one horrendous decision when it’s all on the line, it’s hard to know how the scar tissue truly affects a man when he finds himself back in that position.

In the past, McIlroy has put up various defense mechanisms to justify to himself what was happening to his career and his reputation in major championships. He either didn’t care or he cared too much, and it was always a zig or a zag toward whatever seemed convenient.

This year, McIlroy’s mantra was that he had to be willing to get his heart broken to finally break through and achieve the thing he wanted most. But as the final round played out Sunday, the idea that he could have his heart broken this time and keep coming back for more seemed a Hogan Bridge too far.

“I certainly didn’t make it easy,” he said. “I was nervous. It was one of the toughest days I’ve ever had on a golf course.”

After his terrible start, he regained his footing and the lead on No. 3, the short par-4, when he rolled in a birdie and DeChambeau three-putted for bogey. Then, after walking off No. 10 with a birdie – the hole where McIlroy lost it all with a triple-bogey in 2011 – nobody was within five shots. The tournament seemed over.

But it was never going to be that simple.

Everything about McIlroy’s lay up from the middle of the fairway on No. 13, the par-5, before hitting an inexplicably poor chip into the creek was stunning and perhaps indicative of why he had never won this tournament before. It was a disaster reminiscent of what happened Thursday, when McIlroy chipped from behind the lightning-quick No. 15 green into the water, ruining a round that was headed toward greatness.

“I truly believe I’m a better player now than I was 10 years ago,” he said. “Just it’s so hard to stay patient, so hard to keep coming back every year and trying your best and not being able to get it done. And there were points on the back 9 today I thought, ‘Have I let this slip again?’ ‘

It was not only McIlroy’s fourth double-bogey of the week, it changed the tournament. Rose, surging across the final holes, was suddenly tied and then briefly took the lead. Ludvig Aberg gave himself a chance down the stretch. But the Masters was still going to come down to one thing: Would McIlroy rise to meet history, or would the occasion swallow him?

In the end, it was a little of both. A brilliant 7-iron drawn over the pond on No. 15 giving him a 5-foot, 7-inch look at eagle that ultimately became a two-putt birdie. A makeable putt that grazed the edge and didn’t drop at No. 16. A cluch birdie on No. 17 that gave him a one-shot lead again. Lining up a 4-footer to win on No. 18, only to miss it meekly off the left edge. Then coming back minutes later for a playoff on the very same hole and funneling a wedge back off the shelf to within a couple feet and finally a green jacket.

“It was all relief,” he said. “I’ve been coming here 17 years and it was a good decade plus of emotion that came out.”

And with that, the most draining chapter of a fascinating career closed under the Georgia dusk and we didn’t have to guess what it meant. McIlroy spent years telling us and an all-time Masters Sunday showing us. History will make it look more predictable than it was, because the details usually get lost to time.

McIlroy wrote the best ending possible to his Grand Slam story, but until the final putt dropped, none of us – even him – could be sure that it would ever happen.

Follow Dan Wolken on social media @danwolken.bsky.social

The NBA play-in game has added early and extra tension to a long playoffs season.

The Golden State Warriors went all in to acquire Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline and capitalize on a championship window with Steph Curry still playing at an All-NBA level.

But the Warriors need to win a play-in game just to get the seventh or eighth seed in the Western Conference. They play the Memphis Grizzlies, who on Feb. 6 were 35-16 and in second place. They fired their coach with a week left in the season and finished eighth with the same record as the Warriors (48-34), who were 25-25 on Feb. 6.

The pressure is palpable and the stakes are considerable.

Let’s take a look at the play-in games with TV info, tip-off times and predictions from USA TODAY Sports experts:

NBA play-in game predictions

No. 8 Atlanta Hawks at No. 7 Orlando Magic

Date: Tuesday, April 15
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
TV: TNT

Noteworthy: Winner gets the No. 7 seed and a first-round series against the Boston Celtics. The Magic won the season series against the Hawks, 2-1, including a 119-112 home victory April 8.

Predictions:

Lorenzo Reyes: Magic
Heather Tucker: Magic
James Williams: Hawks
Jeff Zillgitt: Magic

No. 8 Memphis Grizzlies at No. 7 Golden State Warriors

Date: Tuesday, April 15
Time: 10 p.m. ET
TV: TNT

Noteworthy: The Warriors won the season series, 3-1, including a 134-125 victory April 1, a game in which Steph Curry scored 52 points (36 on 3-pointers) and had 10 rebounds and eight assists. The winner earns the No. 7 seed and a first-round matchup against the Houston Rockets.

Predictions:

Lorenzo Reyes: Grizzlies
Heather Tucker: Warriors
James Williams: Warriors
Jeff Zillgitt: Warriors

No. 10 Miami Heat at No. 9 Chicago Bulls

Date: Wednesday, April 16
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN

Noteworthy: The Bulls swept the season series, 3-0, and in the Bulls’ 119-111 victory on April 9, Josh Giddey had 28 points, 16 rebounds, 11 assists, three blocks and two steals. The winner plays the loser of the Hawks-Magic game for the No. 8 seed and a first-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Predictions:

Lorenzo Reyes: Bulls
Heather Tucker: Heat
James Williams: Bulls
Jeff Zillgitt: Bulls

No. 10 Dallas Mavericks at No. 9 Sacramento Kings

Date: Wednesday, April 16
Time: 10 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN

Noteworthy: The Kings won all three games against Dallas this season, including a 129-128 overtime victory on Feb. 10 and a 122-98 victory on March 3. The winner plays the loser of the Grizzlies-Warriors game for the No. 8 seed and a first-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Predictions:

Lorenzo Reyes: Kings
Heather Tucker: Kings
James Williams: Mavericks
Jeff Zillgitt: Kings

Any NFL team that picks Travis Hunter in the NFL draft this month will have a unusual puzzle to solve right away:

What exactly do you do with him? Do you seriously consider letting him play almost every single snap on both offense and defense?

That’s what he wants. And that’s what he did in college at Colorado.

But this is the NFL, where old norms die hard and unnecessary risks are mostly avoided.

Is an NFL team really going to increase the injury risk on its $40-million investment by letting him play that many plays and do what other NFL players almost never do?

“That’s my fear…  that they don’t know what to do with him in the National Football League,” former NFL quarterback Kordell Stewart told USA TODAY Sports. “You saw what I went through.”

Hunter, a cornerback/receiver, is expected to be a top-five draft pick April 24. All teams with top-five picks have said they were open about Hunter’s proposition to some extent, even if they are not fully convinced. The bigger question is whether the potential payoff is worth the risk − and if Hunter is the very rare player who can shatter old notions about what is possible.

Here’s why teams might resist his request, what teams have said so far and why Hunter might even get his wish.

Travis Hunter wants to play ‘all’ of the snaps

Asked recently how many snaps he wants to play in the NFL, Hunter replied, “All of them if they give me a chance.”

This is not done in the NFL, however. It wasn’t done in college either until Colorado coach Deion Sanders had the vision to turn Hunter loose. “Most coaches in college football won’t allow it… because they can’t fathom it,” Sanders said in December.

The more traditional NFL will be an even harder sell for Hunter. In the mid-20th century, Philadelphia Eagles center/linebacker Chuck Bednarik played both ways on a full-time basis and even played every play in the 1960 NFC championship game. But since then, full-time two-way players have been practically extinct, other than an occasional part-time dalliance with playing both ways.

It’s rare for a reason. NFL teams can afford to pay players to focus on only one side of the ball. A compelling case needs to be made for why there should be an exception.

“It’s the best of the best, and you’re saying you’re the best at two positions?” asked former Buffalo Bills general manager Doug Whaley.

‘How do you protect that investment?’

Letting a player play both sides also invites unnecessary fatigue for the player and worse.  

“Doubling the number of snaps doubles the exposure of injury,” said Richard Giller, a renowned sports insurance recovery attorney. “It’s a pretty straightforward thing. The issue then becomes how do you protect that investment?”

Giller recommends that the team that drafts him purchase a temporary total disability insurance policy to cover itself in case of injury.

That itself will require a unique risk calculus, since Hunter’s proposition is so unusual.

At Colorado last season, he led major college football with 1,483 plays − 714 on offense, 748 on defense and 21 on special teams, plus 65 more that were called back due to penalty, according to CU. Since then, he’s been preparing for the draft and soon will join a team to prepare for a 17-game regular season in the NFL. That’s not much of a break for a high-mileage player who measures at 6-feet, 188 pounds.

At that rate, “How long can this guy last?” asked Whaley, who recently has worked in player personnel with the United Football League.

But what if Hunter really is the best cornerback on your team and one of your top wide receivers?

And what if his two-way play might combine with his big smile to make him the kind of beloved generational superstar some NFL cities haven’t seen in decades, if ever?

‘Figure it out’

Kordell Stewart, a former Colorado quarterback, has seen this sort of thing before. After he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1995, he didn’t fit the traditional NFL mold of what a quarterback usually looked like back then – a white, drop-back passer.

So they moved him around – putting him at quarterback, receiver, running back and even a little bit as punter. Unlike Hunter, Stewart didn’t play defense and at least could take a break when the offense was off the field. At the same time, he helped the NFL see what was not just possible but also beneficial. He was ahead of his time as a Black NFL quarterback with mobility – now a common sight.

“It was no way possible I could catch the ball that good and play quarterback,” Stewart said of the NFL thinking back then.

Stewart related that experience to Hunter’s future in a conversation with USA TODAY Sports in December, shortly before Hunter won the Heisman Trophy.

“There is no other player like him,” Stewart said. “There isn’t. I don’t care. Just leave him alone. Bring him in and play him. Figure it out.”

Most-decorated college player in a single season

Stewart estimated Hunter is better than the second and third receivers of most NFL teams and better than the majority of the league’s “lockdown” cornerbacks.

“When you look at the game and how traditional it is in the sense of how coaches coach… I hope he finds a coach that’s as transparent as possible to say, ‘We’re gonna use this talent on our football field to help us win,’ ‘ Stewart said.

Deion Sanders saw that potential after playing both ways himself in the NFL to a smaller extent. “He allowed him to be Travis Hunter,” Stewart said.

And then Hunter became the most-decorated player in college football history for a single season with eight major college football awards, according to CU.

Will NFL teams see the same potential?

Before the NFL draft, teams generally aren’t inclined to share their true feelings about a prospect. Some still gave a glimpse of what they thought about Hunter’s wishes.

∎ Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen recently told Action Sports Jax that the team that picks Hunter needs to be “fluid” and explained why it would take a small village of sorts to fulfill Hunter’s wish. “Patience” among coaches also could be necessary if tensions rise over Hunter’s services.

“That has to be an organizational buy-in from the coaches, the strength staff, the athletic training, sports performance,” Coen said. “Everybody has to be involved, as well as the coaches… in having patience with each side of the ball, because you really don’t want to kind of put him in a box.”

∎ The Jaguars have the No. 5 pick, behind the Tennessee Titans at No. 1, Cleveland Browns at No. 2, New York Giants at No. 3 and New England Patriots at No. 4.

Patriots coach Mike Vrabel seemed to tap the brakes on the idea recently.

“We’ve never seen a player, you know, necessary do it,” Vrabel told reporters. “I think there are some things he can improve on by probably concentrating… just on one position, but never going to put any restrictions on Travis or any player.”

∎ Some teams also want him to concentrate on one side of the ball at first but differ on which. Titans head coach Brian Callahan said it’s “very realistic” Hunter could play both ways but said they’d start him at cornerback before working him at times at receiver.

∎ By contrast, the Browns see him primarily as a receiver at first but acknowledge Hunter is a “unicorn” who could do both at a high level, according to general manager Andrew Berry.

“In terms of Travis Hunter, cornerback or receiver, the answer’s yes,” Berry said at the NFL scouting combine this year.

How does Travis Hunter see it?

Even if Hunter plays both ways on a regular basis, it won’t open the floodgates for players to do what he does.

“There’s not enough people that have that ability,” Whaley said.

As Sanders has said of Hunter: “He is Him.” And this is a unicorn moment. Will an NFL team properly take advantage of it?

Sanders and Bo Jackson are sports icons because they played pro football and baseball at the highest level. Hunter could reach the same status in an NFL city if he plays both ways in the highest level of football.

He’s been wanting this for a long time and has expected some pushback from NFL teams.

“Yeah, because it’s never been done, so I understand that,” Hunter told reporters late last year. “They don’t want me to be a high risk, you know. If I go top pick, they don’t want their top pick to go down too early.”

He’s not thinking about risk, however. He’s thinking about reward.

“I believe I can do it,’ he said. “Nobody has stopped me from doing it this far.”

More recently, he was asked how he wants NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to announce his job title when he’s drafted. Wide receiver or defensive back?

“He better say wide receiver and DB,” Hunter said.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

The New Orleans Saints recently became a strong potential landing spot for Shedeur Sanders. They might not be the only team with a top-10 NFL draft selection that has an interest in the Colorado quarterback.

The Las Vegas Raiders are also interested in Sanders and are hosting him on a pre-draft visit Monday, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. Las Vegas could end up targeting him if the Cleveland Browns and New York Giants pass on quarterbacks.

‘The Raiders, sitting at No. 6, are in a position where if – if – Shedeur Sanders slides out of those top three spots, potentially, that could be in play,’ Pelissero said on NFL Network’s ‘Good Morning Football.’

The Raiders already made a major acquisition at quarterback during the 2025 offseason. They traded a third-round draft pick to the Seattle Seahawks for veteran signal-caller Geno Smith. The move reunited Smith with Pete Carroll, under whom he enjoyed his two Pro Bowl seasons.

Las Vegas signed Smith to a two-year, $75 million extension that will keep him under contract for three seasons. Still, his presence won’t necessarily prevent the Raiders from selecting a quarterback.

‘There certainly is always a longer-term need at the quarterback position,’ Pelissero said, referencing Smith and the Raiders.

Smith will turn 35 during the 2025 NFL season, so Sanders could be tapped as a successor with the No. 6 overall pick should Las Vegas fall in love with him.

Even if the Raiders don’t draft Sanders, they still seem likely to add a young quarterback to develop behind Smith and compete for the backup job with Aidan O’Connell.

The 2025 NBA playoffs bracket is (mostly) set, and there’s plenty of intrigue about the potential matchups to start the postseason.

The top-six seeds in the East and the West must wait for the play-in tournament to determine the No. 7 and No. 8 seed in each conference before beginning their first-round series, but there’s already a predicted pecking order based on the odds coming out of the regular season.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers are the clear favorites to win the NBA championship entering the playoffs, and rightfully so. They were the only teams in the league to win more than 60 games this season. But plenty of contenders capable of upsets lurk below them, especially since Oklahoma City and Cleveland haven’t been through the rigors of a conference finals or finals run with their current cores.

In the west, the upstart Houston Rockets grabbed the No. 2 seed and the Los Angeles Lakers are a threat by virtue of having LeBron James and Luka Doncic. The Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors, since acquiring Jimmy Butler to team with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, have also been the hottest teams in the league after the NBA trade deadline. The Eastern Conference also features the New York Knicks’ first playoff run with Karl-Anthony Towns in the fold and Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks remain a dark horse alongside last year’s Eastern Conference finalist, the Indiana Pacers, and this year’s surprise team, the Detroit Pistons.

It could be a wild NBA playoffs with so many established stars trying to knock off the new generation of players beginning to rise. Here’s a look at the current NBA championship odds from BetMGM now that the league’s postseason is about to start:

NBA playoffs odds 2025: Who has the best chance to win championship?

BetMGM odds for NBA Finals winner as of Monday, April 14

Oklahoma City Thunder (+175)
Boston Celtics (+220)
Cleveland Cavaliers (+600)
Los Angeles Lakers (+1100)
Golden State Warriors (+1400)
Denver Nuggets (+2500)
New York Knicks (+3000)
Los Angeles Clippers (+4000)
Minnesota Timberwolves (+5000)
Houston Rockets (+8000)
Indiana Pacers (+10,000)
Milwaukee Bucks (+15,000)
Memphis Grizzlies (+25,000)
Detroit Pistons (+30,000)
Atlanta Hawks (+100,000)
Chicago Bulls (+100,000)
Miami Heat (+100,000)
Orlando Magic (+100,000)
Dallas Mavericks (+100,000)
Sacramento Kings (+100,000)

2025 NBA Play-In Tournament bracket

The tournament runs from Tuesday, April 15 through Friday, April 18. Round 1 games are scheduled on April 15 and 16 with Round 2 games in each conference set for April 18. The NBA playoffs begin a day later.

Eastern Conference

No. 7 Orlando Magic (41-41) vs. No. 8 Atlanta Hawks (40-42) on April 15
No. 9 Chicago Bulls (39-43) vs. No. 10 Miami Heat (37-45) on April 16

Western Conference

No. 7 Golden State Warriors (48-34) vs. No. 8 Memphis Grizzlies (48-34) on April 15
No. 9 Sacramento Kings (40-42) vs. No. 10 Dallas Mavericks (39-43) on April 16

NBA Eastern Conference playoff bracket

No. 1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers vs. No. 8 seed (winner of the Play-In Tournament)
No. 2 seed Boston Celtics vs. No. 7 seed (first runner-up of the Play-In Tournament)
No. 3 seed New York Knicks vs. No. 6 seed Detroit Pistons
No. 4 seed Indiana Pacers vs. No. 5 seed Milwaukee Bucks

NBA Western Conference playoff bracket

No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder vs. No. 8 seed (winner of the Play-In Tournament)
No. 2 seed Houston Rockets vs. No. 7 seed (first runner-up of the Play-In Tournament)
No. 3 seed Los Angeles Lakers vs. No. 6 seed Minnesota Timberwolves
No. 4 seed Denver Nuggets vs. No. 5 seed Los Angeles Clippers