Philadelphia, PA (My Sportsbook) - The NBA regular season wrapped up with 14 games on Wednesday, setting the stage for the playoffs which begin on Saturday, featuring the Boston Celtics starting defense of their title against the Chicago Bulls at 12:30 p.m. (et).

The Celtics, who beat the Lakers in six games in last year's NBA Finals, ran away with their second straight Atlantic Division title, finishing the season with a 62-20 record. That was good enough for the second seed in the Eastern Conference.

Boston forward Kevin Garnett missed the last nine games due to a sore right knee, but is expected back for the start of the playoffs. Garnett proved instrumental last year in helping the Celtics to their first championship since the 1985-86 season.

The Celtics closed their season with a home win over Washington Wednesday night. Now they'll face a team they beat 2-1 in the season series, although the Bulls won the previous encounter in the Windy City.

"We have our work cut out for us and I think all of us are ready for the challenge," said Celtics guard Ray Allen. "That's the thing we have to respect that they know how to play the game and despite how we played against them the times we beat them, the time when we lost to them, they were a better team."

Chicago, which was pushed to the seventh seed after a home loss to Toronto Wednesday, is in the playoffs after a one-year hiatus, this time with rookie sensation Derrick Rose.

LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers rolled to the best record (66-16) in the NBA and will take on Detroit in the first round, with that best-of-seven set starting Saturday at 3 p.m. (et).

The Cavs made it to the conference semifinals last season before falling to the Celtics, while the Pistons were ousted in the conference semis by Boston.

Cleveland took three of the four meetings against Detroit this season. The Central Division champs, with their 39-2 home mark this year, will try to knock the Pistons out of the playoffs for the second time in three years, doing so in 2007 in the conference finals.

Orlando drew the No. 3 seed in the East thanks to the incredible play of Dwight Howard, and he's got the Magic primed for a postseason run. It'll get started Sunday at 5:30 p.m. (et) versus the Philadelphia 76ers.

"I'm just looking forward to it (the playoffs); you know it's going to be a great series," said Howard. "Philly is a great team and they've been playing great as of late and the playoffs are just around the corner. We got to be ready."

The Southeast Division champion Magic, who swept the Sixers in all three meetings this season, were beaten in the conference semifinals a year ago. Philadelphia lost in the first round last year to Detroit.

The 4-5 matchup will be between Atlanta and Miami. The Hawks gave Boston a battle in the first round last year, but ultimately couldn't win on the road, thus lost the series in a decisive seventh game. This year, Atlanta posted 47 wins, its most since having 50 in the 1997-98 campaign, to gain the No. 4 seed and home-court advantage in the first round.

The Heat, led by Dwyane Wade, finished at 43-39 and gained the fifth seed in the East, a huge contrast to last season's 15-67 debacle finish. Game 1 is Sunday at 8 p.m. (et).

Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers are again the team to beat in the West. They gained the No. 1 seed by virtue of a 65-17 record, and now have plenty of healthy weapons for their first-round series against Utah, which starts Sunday at 3 p.m. (et).

Pau Gasol has been a force up front all season, and now the Pacific Division winners will look forward to Andrew Bynum being able to help the cause in the low post. Bynum tore the medial collateral ligament in his right knee at the end of January, but came back nearly a week ago.

Utah faced the Lakers in last year's playoffs, losing in six games in the conference semifinals.

The Denver Nuggets, fresh off winning the Northwest Division, gained the No. 2 seed and will meet Chris Paul and New Orleans in the first round, starting Sunday at 10:30 p.m. (et). Denver will have home-court advantage in the playoffs for the first time since 1988. The Nuggets (54-27) also tied a franchise record for most wins in a season, but will now try to win a playoff series for the first time since 1994. They've lost six straight first-round series.

"We couldn't have asked for more than we got out of this season," said Nuggets coach George Karl. "How we play in the playoffs, how we take confidence into the playoffs...there are a lot of matchups that I think if we play the right way, we're the best team. I haven't been able to say that since I've been in Denver to be honest. We've always played the conference champions or the first seed. I think if we play the right way, we have some good things that can happen."

As for the Hornets, they're also getting healthy at the right time. Tyson Chandler missed the team's last 15 games with a balky left ankle before coming back to play in the season finale, an overtime loss at eventual Southwest Division champion San Antonio.

The 3-6 matchup will be a Texas showdown between San Antonio and Dallas with the opener slated for Saturday at 8 p.m. (et). The Spurs were able to win the division on the final day of the regular season thanks to a clutch three- pointer at the regulation buzzer from Michael Finley then surging ahead in OT to beat New Orleans.

Trying to win the NBA title for a fourth time in seven years, San Antonio guard Tony Parker is looking forward to the postseason again. The Spurs though will be without a main cog, as Manu Ginobili is out due to a stress fracture in his leg.

"We've had a lot of injuries. With Manu (Ginobili) being out half the season, it was a tough season," said Parker. "There were a lot of ups and downs but at the end of the day we got that third seed and that's what we wanted."

The Mavericks surged to the sixth seed following a home win over Houston on the final night of the regular season.

Another star player out for the postseason is Houston's Tracy McGrady, although considering he's never won a first-round series in his career, maybe the Rockets' luck will change. Houston was pushed to the fifth seed due to its loss on Wednesday and will have to open on the road against Brandon Roy, Greg Oden and the rest of the Portland Trail Blazers, Saturday night at 10:30 p.m. (et).

McGrady is out due to microfracture surgery on his knee, but the Rockets are still loaded with talent in All-Star center Yao Ming, Ron Artest and Luis Scola.

The Rockets haven't won a playoff series since 1997, a span of six straight first-round exits. Wednesday, they were trying for their first division championship since the 1993-94 season, when the Rockets won the first of back- to-back NBA titles.

The Trail Blazers are in the playoffs for the first time since the 2002-03 season.