Breaking down NBA playoff schedule

Jeff Zillgitt

Fifteen of the 20 playoff seeds were undetermined headed into the final day of the NBA regular season, and 11 of the final 15 regular-season games had a direct impact on the standings and playoff matchups. As Sunday’s afternoon games concluded, the playoff picture started to become more clear in the Eastern Conference and Western Conference.

With the No. 2 seed on the line in the East, the Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers all had a shot at second place.

The Knicks took advantage and claimed the No. 2 seed – because the Knicks beat the Chicago Bulls in overtime, Milwaukee (playing without Giannis Antetokounmpo) lost to the Orlando Magic and Cleveland (playing without Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland) fell to Charlotte.

The Knicks (50-32) finished with a better record than the Bucks (49-33), who finished with a better record than Cleveland (48-34).

Rounding out the East, the Magic earned the No. 5 seed with their victory, The Indiana Pacers claimed No. 6 with their victory, the Philadelphia 76ers ended up No. 7, and the Miami Heat No. 8. The Chicago Bulls as the No. 9 seed and the No. 10 Atlanta Hawks were settled before Sunday’s games. The Boston Celtics earned the No. 1 seed three weeks ago.

Even though three teams went into the final day tied for first place in the West, it turned out to be anticlimactic because of the blowouts.

The Oklahoma City Thunder captured the No. 1 seed with a 135-86 victory against the Dallas Mavericks; The Denver Nuggets finished No. 2 with a 126-111 victory against the Memphis Grizzlies; and the Minnesota Timberwovles ended up No. 3 after losing to the Phoenix Suns 125-106.

Phoenix’s victory in combination with the Los Angeles Lakers’ victory over the New Orleans Pelicans gave the Suns the No. 6 seed over the Pelicans who are No. 7.

The Lakers grabbed No. 8, while the Sacramento Kings collected No. 9 over the No. 10 seed Golden State Warriors because the Kings own the tiebreaker based on a better division record.

Playoff matchups

● Eastern Conference first-round playoff matchups.

No. 1 Boston vs. No. 8 seed: from winner of No. 7 Philadelphia-No. 8 Miami play-in game loser vs. No. 9 Chicago-No. 10 Atlanta play-in game win

ahead of the Dallas Cowboys’ Micah Parsons and behind only decorated quarterbacks Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields – wanted to quit football. In the low moments, he asked himself: What happened to the plan of obtaining his degree in three years so he could enter the NFL draft once he was eligible?

They took different paths, but Thomas will finally join Parsons – whom Thomas called “one of his best friends” – in the NFL ranks later this month. He is realistic enough to know he won’t be a first-round selection, yet confident enough to compare his game to that of Parsons. And in meeting with teams during the pre-draft process, Thomas has taken advantage of the chance to tell his story – something he is unapologetic about in an effort to help others who are struggling with their mental health.

“If anything, it brings a positive light on who I am as a person and things I’ve persevered through,” Thomas told USA TODAY Sports.

Pandemic brings Xavier Thomas to low point at Clemson

Tameka Thomas is not a fan of football. When her son, Xavier, was a child, she tolerated the violence so long as he kept good grades. She admits now she tried to push him toward baseball, another sport in which he showed promise. Xavier turned down the exhaustive travel schedule that comes with travel baseball.

“He would never let anything interfere with football,” Tameka told USA TODAY Sports.

Which is why she first realized something wasn’t right with Xavier “when he was not really focused on football.”

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the Clemson football program to spread out. Thomas retreated to two of his passions – video games and sweets. He tried to assure his parents that he was OK, Tameka said. They didn’t want to force an uncomfortable conversation on him; he’s not the type of person who will speak unless he wants to. But they sensed an uncommon distance.

“Back then, when I was dealing with that, I tried to keep it bottled in, keep it to myself and be a tough guy and have a tough act,” Thomas said. “Which is a stigma we have with men nowadays – even with women. We got people who deal with a lot of things.”

Thomas was diagnosed with COVID-19 during the early stages of the pandemic and self-isolated. The weight started coming on then and didn’t stop after his recovery. He remained disconnected from the Tigers even as team activities resumed.

“Which is why I was almost ready to quit football, because I allowed myself to get down to that type of level for myself,” Thomas said.

Thomas credited his teammates for being supportive but said he leaned on two people specifically: Tameka and Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney.

“I’m super proud of ‘XT’ because he got to a place a lot of people don’t recover from,” Swinney said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports. “He was in a very dark place. But what he did – and it’s so important – is he communicated and he sought out help, and he had the courage to let people know what he was struggling with.

“Every time I see him, I think about the dark time that he was in, where he was. To see him now, it’s just amazing. It’s such a great example of why it’s so important that we provide opportunities and resources for mental health, and that we aren’t ashamed to express ourselves when we get in places that are dark.”

Tameka has the same questions others do when it comes to exploring that part of Xavier’s life. How did she help him? She hasn’t asked her son because she doesn’t want to reminisce about the past.

“I’ll be mindful of things,” she says now.

Tameka remembers one conversation. Xavier had mentioned again he was finished with football. She told Xavier he had to admit that to himself – if that was the truth.

“But if you’re not, don’t try to slip under the rug something you’re dealing with and you regret this later on in life,” Tameka said. “I don’t know what I did, exactly. I just stayed on him.”

Tameka herself went to counseling during that time to help. She encouraged her son to go and believes in the power of talking it out. Tameka prayed, too.

“He got low,” Tameka said, “but it didn’t break him – because he got up on his own.”

Xavier Thomas helps himself by helping others

Thomas was an immediate contributor during the Tigers’ 2018 national championship and had a half-sack in the title game against Alabama. Coming off a USA TODAY Freshman All-America selection, Thomas ended his sophomore year by earning third-team AllACC honors.

The plan was coming together.

Even though Xavier always carried himself humbly, “he went through a moment (All times Eastern) Tuesday, April 16

Hockey

National Hockey League

7:30 p.m.

ESPN — Toronto at Florida

10 p.m.

ESPN+/HULU — Chicago at Vegas ESPN+/HULU — Calgary at Vancouver

Baseball

Major League Baseball

1:10 p.m.

ESPN+/MLBN — Texas at Detroit

8:10 p.m.

TBS — Atlanta at Houston

9:40 p.m.

MLBN — Chicago Cubs at Arizona

10:10 p.m.

MLBN — Washington at L.A. Dodgers