So long Papa John's

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Houston Texans general manager Brian Gaine has quite a challenge as he prepares for his first draft with the team.

He enters Thursday looking to upgrade a team that went 4-12 last season and has no picks in the first two rounds. Instead of worrying about the picks Houston doesn't have T. J. Carrie Jersey , Gaine is focused on how he can get the most out of the four picks the Texans own in the third and fourth rounds.

"Although they might not be player 50 or 60, we're still going to get four players in the top 103," Gaine said. "So, we're very positive that we'll be able to get contributing players at any one of those picks in the third and the fourth round."

The Texans don't have a first-round pick for the first time in franchise history. They traded away this year's choice to Cleveland to get quarterback Deshaun Watson with the 12th overall pick in last year's draft. They previously sent their second-round pick in this draft to the Browns as part of the deal to get rid of Brock Osweiler.

Houston's first pick will be No. 68, and it received the 80th pick from Seattle in the trade for left tackle Duane Brown. Houston got the 98th selection in the third round as a compensatory pick for A.J. Bouye signing with the Jaguars last year.

The Texans have one fourth-rounder, three picks in the sixth round and a seventh-round selection this year.

Gaine wouldn't rule out trading up if they really like a player, but it doesn't seem likely.

"If there's a certain player that's falling down on the board that we had a very good grade on, certainly we're always going to talk about that scenario if we have the ammunition and the latitude to go up," he said. "I would tell you, historically, I would much prefer to go down than I ever would to go up, to get more at-bats, to accumulate more good players."

OFFENSIVE LINE NEEDS

Believing they've finally found their franchise quarterback in Watson Vernon Butler Jersey , the Texans need to upgrade the offensive line to protect him. The unit took a hit last season when Brown, their franchise left tackle, was traded to Seattle, and the Texans allowed the second-most sacks in the league with 54. Houston addressed the situation by signing guards Senio Kelemete and Zach Fulton and tackle Seantrel Henderson in free agency, but could still try to add reinforcements in the draft.

GAINE'S TIME

Gaine will be in charge of a draft for the first time in his career after Houston hired him in January to take over for Rick Smith, who took a leave of absence to be with his wife, who is fighting cancer. Although this is his first stint as a general manager, Gaine has plenty of experience in scouting and player evaluations, having worked as assistant general manager for the Dolphins and in player personnel for the Texans and the Bills.

HITS AND MISSES

Although it's a small sample size, the Texans appear to have hit big in last year's draft with Watson. He starred in seven games before he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in practice. Watson threw for 1,699 yards with 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions as a rookie and is on track to be healthy for the start of the 2018 season.

Another solid pick for the Texans in the last few years is Jadeveon Clowney, selected first overall in 2014. The defensive end shook off a couple of injury-filled seasons to become one of the top defenders in the league. He finished second in the NFL with a career-high 21 tackles for losses and his 9 1/2 sacks, 21 quarterback hits and two forced fumbles also were career bests.

While the Texans hit on Clowney in that draft Brandon McManus Jersey , their second-round selection might be one of their worst misses. Houston passed on quarterback Derek Carr to take Xavier Su'a-Filo with the 33rd overall pick. The offensive guard started 31 of 32 games over the past two seasons, but struggled with consistency, and the Texans chose not to re-sign him this offseason.

The Latest on Wednesday’s final slate of NBA regular-season games (all times local):

3:10 a.m.

The NBA has released the first-round playoff schedule, and the reigning NBA champs will host the postseason opener.

Game 1 between Golden State and San Antonio opens the slate on Saturday at 3 p.m. Eastern – a somewhat unusual noon local time tip-off for the Warriors.

The Warriors-Spurs game will followed Saturday by three other openers – Washington-Toronto, Miami-Philadelphia and New Orleans-Portland.

On Sunday, the games are Milwaukee-Boston, Indiana-Cleveland, Utah-Oklahoma City and Minnesota-Houston.

Game 2s will be held Monday through Wednesday.

Game 3s start Thursday, and all Game 7s – if necessary – would be on April 28 and 29.

For those planning way ahead, the NBA Finals are set to begin on May 31.

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1:00 a.m.

The NBA playoff bracket is complete.

Portland beat Utah to grab the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, and that allowed the rest of the bracket to be filled in – finally. The Trail Blazers will play No. 6 New Orleans in the first round, and No. 4 Oklahoma City will have home-court advantage against the fifth-seeded Jazz.

The Jazz-Blazers game was the 1,230th and final regular-season matchup of the season. Every other game on Wednesday’s schedule was over before the final buzzer in Portland Darren Woodson Jersey , meaning it took the entire schedule to determine the last two matchups in the West.

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11:55 p.m.

The first two of the four Western Conference first-round matchups have been set.

No. 1 Houston will play No. 8 Minnesota, and No. 2 Golden State (probably with no Stephen Curry) will play No. 7 San Antonio (probably with no Kawhi Leonard).

The Rockets swept four games from the Timberwolves, and the Warriors went 3-1 against the Spurs in the regular season.

The rest of the West bracket will be set based on the outcome of the Utah-Portland game. New Orleans will start on the road, regardless of the winner, and Oklahoma City – thanks to its wild 137-123 win over Memphis – could still get a top-four seed.

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10:50 p.m.

Minnesota is in the playoffs.

Jeff Teague’s jumper with just over a minute left in overtime put the Timberwolves ahead to stay, and Minnesota topped Denver 112-106 on Wednesday night to grab the final spot in the NBA playoffs.

The last West spot was the only one up for grabs on the season’s final night. It was the NBA’s first winner-gets-in, loser-goes-home game since 1997.

Denver would have gone to the postseason with a win at Minnesota.

Minnesota is in the playoffs for the first time since 2004 – ending what was the longest active drought in the NBA

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10:40 p.m.

The East is set.

It took 82 games, the entire regular season and even an overtime in Miami to decide things, but the bracket for the Eastern Conference playoffs is filled.

No. 1 Toronto will play No. 8 Washington, No. 2 Boston will meet No. 7 Milwaukee, No. 3 Philadelphia draws No. 6 Miami and No. 4 Cleveland gets No. 5 Indiana.

All the Game 1s will be Saturday or Sunday, at the lower seed.

Indiana went 3-1 against the Cavaliers in the regular season. All the other first-round matchups are ones where the playoff foes split four meetings this season.

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10:15 p.m.

For the first time since 2001, Philadelphia is a top-three seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

For the first time since 2008 Gary Zimmerman Jersey , LeBron James is not.

The 76ers routed Milwaukee 130-95 on Wednesday night to wrap up the No. 3 seed on the East bracket, and that meant No. 4 Cleveland will face No. 5 Indiana when the playoffs open this weekend.

Philadelphia’s 16-game winning streak is the longest to end a regular season in NBA history.

Philadelphia rolled from the start, taking a 46-18 lead after the first quarter. The 28-point margin tied for the sixth-largest in any quarter of 76ers history.

The only way Cleveland would have finished No. 3 was if it won and Philadelphia lost. But with the 76ers taking command so quickly and essentially locking Cleveland into No. 4 long before the final buzzers, James got most of Wednesday night off. He finished with 10 points in just over 10 minutes.

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9:40 p.m.

Russell Westbrook will average a triple-double for the second straight season.

The Oklahoma City guard came into Wednesday needing 16 rebounds against Memphis to average 10.0 boards this season – and got there in the third quarter of the Thunder’s game against the Grizzlies.

Westbrook has no issue outdueling teammates for rebounds, and grabbed 16 of the Thunder’s first 27 rebounds on Wednesday.

It’s only the third time in NBA history that someone has averaged a triple-double. Westbrook did it last year, and Oscar Robertson did it in 1961-62.

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9:30 p.m.

Houston Rockets forward Luc Mbah a Moute will likely miss at least the first round of the playoffs after dislocating his right shoulder in a meaningless game for the Western Conference leaders.

Coach Mike D’Antoni said Wednesday that Mbah a Moute will likely miss two to three weeks with the injury sustained against the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.

Mbah a Moute missed 15 games in December and January after dislocating his right shoulder during a fall, and it happened again on a dunk in traffic at Staples Center.

Mbah a Moute is a key rotation player for the Rockets, who have the best record in the NBA. He averages 7.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per game off the bench.

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9 p.m.

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