After 1,230 regular-season games, here comes the “real” National Basketball Association (NBA) season or the playoffs, where all the marbles are at stake and where the men are separated from the boys.

The top eight teams – including the three division winners – in both the Eastern and Western conferences qualify for the postseason. They are ranked first to eighth in each conference.

All 16 playoff clubs are competing in the first round of the four-tier playoffs, all of which have been best-of-seven affairs since 2003.

Boston (62-20) is the defending NBA titlist but it will be hard-pressed to repeat this year with the absence of inspirational leader Kevin Garnett due to a knee injury.
Even though they are the No. 2 seed in the East, the Celtics may not even survive past the conference finals. The Hub City squad’s first-round foe, the Chicago Bulls 41-41), are an easy prey. However, the No. 3 seed Orlando Magic (59-23, probable conference semifinal opponent) and the playoffs’ overall top seed Cleveland Cavaliers (66-16, potential conference finals rival) certainly won’t be.

Boston will have home-court advantage against NBA rebounding and shot-blocking leader Dwight Howard and the Magic, but it won’t enjoy the same incentive should it face soon-to-be crowned MVP LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the East finals.

The Cavaliers, owners of the best regular-season record in the league with an all-time single-season franchise mark of 66-16, will enjoy home-court edge through the NBA Finals, assuming they reach that far.

The 6-8 do-it-all James, who helped guide Cleveland to the NBA Finals in 2007 against eventual champion San Antonio following non-playoff finishes in his first two pro seasons out of high school, averaged 28.4 points (second best in the league behind only the 30.2 clip of Miami star Dwyane Wade), 7.6 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.2 blocks in 81 appearances.

Out in the wild, wild West, the Los Angeles Lakers have the conference’s best record at 65-17 and look headed to the NBA Finals for a second consecutive year behind 2008 NBA MVP Kobe Bryant (league third-best 26.8 ppg), 7-foot Pau Gasol (18.9 ppg, 9.6 rpg) and all-around swingman Lamar Odom, who comes off the bench once more with the return of 7-foot center Andrew Bynum from a right knee ailment in the Lakers’ final four regular assignments after 32 straight DNPs.
The Lakers should be able to make short work of Utah in the playoffs’ first round but are expected to get stiff opposition from either Portland or Houston in the West semis and from Denver or San Antonio in the conference finals.

With steady Chauncey Billups orchestrating the club’s erstwhile helter-skelter offense and Carmelo Anthony, Nene, J.R. Smith and comebacking Kenyon Martin providing the spark, Denver appears to have the edge over San Antonio – the Nuggets were 2-1 vs. the Spurs in their head-to-head duel – in a potential second-round match-up. Still I pick the Spurs to reach the West finals against the Lakers.

That’s the farthest the Spurs will go even if this is an odd-numbered year. San Antone was the NBA champ in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007. French playmaker Tony Parker, who scored 55 points against lowly Minnesota last November, is averaging a career-high 22.0 ppg, but energetic guard Manu Ginobili is sidelined by an ankle injury and meal ticket Tim Duncan has been slowed down by bothersome knees.

Phoenix finished ninth in the West standings and are out of the playoff circle despite a decent 46-36 mark (the Suns, though, own a better record than four East playoff teams). And for the first time since his rookie campaign (1992-93), the Suns’ 37-year-old, 7-1 mastodon Shaquille O’Neal (17.8 ppg, 8.5 rpg won’t be making a postseason appearance either.

The 2009 NBA playoffs commence today (Manila time) with the best-of-seven series opener in four of the eight match-ups in the first round.

The games are (win-loss records in parentheses) No. 7 Chicago (41-41) at No. 2 Boston (62-20) and No. 8 Detroit (39-43) at No. 1 Cleveland (66-16) in the East and No. 6 Dallas (50-32) at No. 3 San Antonio (54-28) and No. 5 Houston (53-29) at No. 4 Portland (54-28) in the West.

Monday’s quadruple menu features No. 8 Utah (48-34) at No. 1 LA Lakers (65-17) and No. 7 New Orleans (49-33) at No. 2 Denver (54-28) in the West and No. 6 Philadelphia (41-41) at No. 3 Orlando (59-23) and No. 5 Miami (43-39) at No. 4 Atlanta (47-35) in the East.

In the East, Cleveland, Boston, Orlando and Atlanta will have home-court advantage over their opponents. In the West, the Lakers, Denver, San Antonio and Portland will enjoy the same privilege against their rivals.