The 2009 NBA Playoffs, featuring top teams like the Lakers, Nuggets, Cavaliers, Magic and Celtics, began Saturday, April 18.

PLAYOFFS: FINALS

LAL 4 Orl 1

PLAYOFFS: ROUND 3

East: Orl 4 Cle 2
West: LAL 4 Den 2

PLAYOFFS: ROUND 2

EAST
Cle 4 Atl 0
Orl 4 Bos 3
WEST
Den 4 Dal 1
LAL 4 Hou 3

PLAYOFFS: ROUND 1

EAST
Cle 4 Det 0
Orl 4 Phi 2
Bos 4 Chi 3
Atl 4 Mia 3
WEST
Dal 4 SA 1
LAL 4 Uta 1
Den 4 NO 1
Hou 4 Por 2


How the NBA Playoffs Work: Of 30 NBA teams, 16 make the playoffs: eight in the Eastern conference and eight in the West. The East teams keep playing other East teams until there's one East team left. Same with the West. The NBA Finals features that one remaining East team going up against the one remaining West team, and they play for the NBA championship. There are four NBA playoff rounds, including the Finals. Each round is best-of-seven, which means that the first team to win four games wins the series and advances to the next round.

Brief 2009 NBA Playoffs First Round Recap:

In the 2009 first round Eastern conference, the Cavaliers totally outclassed the Pistons (4 games to 0), the Celtics edged the Bulls in an amazing, overtime-filled seven game series (4-3), the Magic overcame some scares from the 76ers to advance (4-2), and the Heat and Hawks have gone seven games in a strange series with lots of blowouts.

In the West's first round, the Lakers were far suprior to the Jazz (and won 4-1), the Nuggets totally outclassed the disappointing Hornets (4-1), the Mavericks smoked the Manu Ginobili-less Spurs (4-1), and the Rockets beat the Blazers (4-2). It's the first time Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady have advanced past the first round of the playoffs, though T-Mac is out injured and the team did it without his services.

The East NBA playoffs team seedings: 1. Cleveland Cavaliers (66-16), 2. Boston Celtics (62-20), 3. Orlando Magic (59-23), 4. Atlanta Hawks (47-35), 5. Miami Heat (43-39), 6. Philadelphia 76ers (41-41), 7. Chicago Bulls (41-41), 8. Detroit Pistons (39-43)

The West NBA playoffs team seedings: 1. Los Angeles Lakers (65-17), 2. Denver Nuggets (54-28), 3. San Antonio Spurs (54-28), 4. Portland Trail Blazers (54-28), 5. Houston Rockets (53-29), 6. Dallas Mavericks (50-32), 7. New Orleans Hornets (49-33), 8.-Utah Jazz (48-34)


2009 NBA PLAYOFFS CONFERENCE FINALS SCHEDULE

Nuggets vs Lakers Schedule

Game 1 - Tue May 19 Denver at L.A. Lakers 9:00PM ET ESPN/R
Game 2 - Thu May 21 Denver at L.A. Lakers 9:00PM ET ESPN/R
Game 3 - Sat May 23 L.A. Lakers at Denver 8:30PM ET ABC/R
Game 4 - Mon May 25 L.A. Lakers at Denver 9:00PM ET ESPN/R
Game 5 * Wed May 27 Denver at L.A. Lakers 9:00PM ET ESPN/R
Game 6 * Fri May 29 L.A. Lakers at Denver 9:00PM ET ESPN/R
Game 7 * Sun May 31 Denver at L.A. Lakers 8:30PM ET ABC/R

Cavs vs Magic Schedule

Game 1 - Wed May 20 Orlando at Cleveland 8:30PM ET TNT/R
Game 2 - Fri May 22 Orlando at Cleveland 8:30PM ET TNT/R
Game 3 - Sun May 24 Cleveland at Orlando 8:30PM ET TNT/R
Game 4 - Tue May 26 Cleveland at Orlando 8:30PM ET TNT/R
Game 5 * Thu May 28 Orlando at Cleveland 8:30PM ET TNT/R
Game 6 * Sat May 30 Cleveland at Orlando 8:30PM ET TNT/R
Game 7 * Mon June 1 Orlando at Cleveland 8:30PM ET TNT/R

*The final three games of each series are “if necessary.”