Tym Glaser

THE NBA play-offs starts today, hooray, hooray! Yes, folks, after a mere six months and 82 games per side, the competition has been whittled down to ONLY 16 teams.

In the Eastern Conference, it looks a straight race between the 66-win Celtics and the recent class of the right side of the US, Detroit. However, don't go to sleep on King LeBron James' Cleveland, Superman Dwight Howard's under-the-radar Orlando and the improving Washington.

Surviving an incredible dogfight out West, Kobe Bryant's LA Lakers clinched homecourt for the conference play-offs by finishing with the top seed, but any one of seven teams - LA, New Orleans, Utah, Houston, defending champs San Antonio, Phoenix and Dallas, could emerge from what looms as a brutal scrap to reach the finals.

To make things just a teensy bit easier for y'all, here's a quick look at the best-of-seven, first-round matchups in the conferences.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Celtics (66-16) vs Atlanta Hawks (37-45)

Should be a walk in the park for the all-conquering Celts against one of the two teams in the playoffs with a losing record. Boston, led by their Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, swept the regular season series but the young Hawks, marshalled by veteran guard Mike Bibby - an interesting mid-season acquisition, won't run away and hide.

Prediction: Celtics 4-1.

Player to watch: Kevin Garnett (Boston).

Cleveland (45-37) vs Washington (43-39)

The most intriguing matchup of the East in the first round. LeBron's team has not found any great rhythm since its mega-deal with Chicago midway through the season and the King's battling injuries. Meanwhile, Washington are starting to get healthy with 'Agent 0', Gilbert Arenas, returning to the fray fresh to join the likes of Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler.

Prediction: Cavaliers 4-3.

Player to watch: LeBron James (Cleveland).

Detroit (59-23) vs Philadelphia (40-42)

Ultra-experienced Detroit should cruise past Philadelphia - the other team with a losing record, but coach Mo Cheeks has done a superb job with the young 76ers and they will put up a fight. A tricky first-up assignment for Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace and co.

Prediction: Detroit 4-2.

Player to watch: Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia).

Orlando (52-30) vs Toronto (41-41)

Orlando may just have had the best season no-one's talking about. With Howard anchoring the post and averaging almost a double-double for the entire season, the Magic cruised to the No. 3 seed in the East. Toronto battled injuries all season and will find Orlando and Mount Howard too tough to climb.

Prediction: Orlando 4-1.

Player to watch: Chris Bosh (Toronto).

WESTERN CONFERENCE

LA Lakers (57-25) vs Denver (50-32)

Wags call the Nuggets 'Enver' because they have no 'D' and that's going to hurt big time against MVP-in-waiting Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and the other Laker crew. Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony can score in buckets but, aside from Marcus Camby, nobody from the Nuggets plays defence.

Prediction: LA Lakers 4-1.

Player to watch: Kobe Bryant.

Utah (54-28) vs Houston (55-27)

Similar to Orlando in the East, nobody's talking about Utah, who quietly had a very solid season behind point guard Deron Williams and power forward Carlos Boozer. The Rockets ran off a sensational 22-game winning streak this season to put themselves among the top seeds but without centre Yao Ming they'll need an extraordinary effort from play-off underachiever Tracy McGrady to have any chance of advancing.

Prediction: Utah 4-1.

Player to watch: Tracy McGrady (Houston).

New Orleans (56-26) vs Dallas (51-31)

New Orleans just missed out on the top seed and that relegated them into a dangerous first-round against the Mavericks. Hornets' point guard Chris Paul had a superb season and was well supported by Peja Stojakovic, Tyson Chandler and David West. However, the Mavs have far more play-off experience and Dirk Nowitzki, who has battled back from a severe ankle injury, and late-season pick-up Jason Kidd will give the upstart Hornets all they can handle. The teams split their four games this season.

Prediction: Dallas 4-3.

Player to watch: Chris Paul (New Orleans).

San Antonio (56-26) vs Phoenix (55-27)

Clearly, the marquee matchup of the first-round between last year's conference finalists. San Antonio, with Tim Duncan, sparkplug Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker are built for the play-offs but are also getting on in age and had to be coddled through the regular season. Phoenix pulled off a mega-deal for Shaquille O'Neal and, after a shaky start, seem to be gaining momentum at the right time with Steve Nash running the show and Amare Stoudamire playing well at both ends of the court. The Suns won three of four encounters this season but this series could go either way.

Prediction: Phoenix 4-3.

Player to watch: Manu Ginobili (San Antonio).