Los Angeles  - Kevin Garnett may miss the entire NBA postseason. Danny Ainge had a minor heart attack. Believe it or not, these items were unrelated.

   Garnett, the superstar forward and emotional leader of the Boston Celtics, will not be in uniform when the defending champions open the 2009 playoffs Saturday at home against the Chicago Bulls.

   "There's no way he can play," Celtics coach Doc Rivers told WEEI Radio in Boston after watching Garnett - who has played just 67 minutes since suffering a knee injury on February 19 - labour through a 20-minute workout Thursday.

   Hours later, the Celtics released a statement confirming that Ainge, the team's vice president and architect of the championship squad, was hospitalized with a minor heart attack suffered at his home early Thursday morning. He missed Wednesday's season finale because he was not feeling well.

   "Danny Ainge is recovering at Massachusetts General Hospital after having a minor heart attack. He is recovering nicely," the statement said. "Mr Ainge is expected to remain in the hospital for a few days."

   Garnett had played limited minutes in just four games since the injury, with his projected return pushed back several times. The 2008 Defensive Player of the Year was scheduled to make his return Saturday.

   "He's not going to be ready. After watching him practice, there's no way," Rivers told the radio station, adding that Garnett could miss the entire postseason. "We're going to move on without him."

   It is a big loss for the second-seeded Celtics (62-20), who may have to take on third-seeded Orlando (59-23) and top-seeded Cleveland (66-16) in the Eastern Conference before meeting the Los Angeles Lakers (65-17) in the Finals if they are to repeat as champs for the first time in 40 years.

   But Boston's loss may be another team's gain. The time may be now for LeBron James and the Cavaliers or Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, the top seed in the West.

   Unlike a year ago, when they lost in the Finals to the Celtics in six games, the Lakers have a healthy Andrew Bynum. And they were one of just two teams to hand a home loss to the Cavaliers, who will have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

   "This year we're going in relatively healthy and we've got a good shot," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.

   The Lakers begin their postseason journey when they host the eighth-seeded Utah Jazz (48-34), the first of four best-of-seven match-ups Sunday. They are the favorite to come out of the West, and even Jazz coach Jerry Sloan called his team's chances "bleak."

   "I don't think our guys are going to buy into any hype," Jackson said. "We know we've got opponents in this conference that are all dangerous."

   After the Celtics host the Bulls, James - the favorite for Most Valuable Player - leads the Cavaliers against the eighth-seeded Detroit Pistons (39-43), who took a tumble this season but have reached the conference finals six straight times, including a loss to Cleveland in 2007.

   "We had a terrific regular season," Cavs coach Mike Brown said. "Our guys are excited about [the playoffs]. I think we'll be focused."

   There are a couple of West series Saturday, as the sixth-seeded Dallas Mavericks visit the third-seeded San Antonio Spurs and the fourth-seeded Portland Trail Blazers host the fifth-seeded Houston Rockets.

   Led by German juggernaut Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavericks (50-32) upended the Spurs in seven games in the 2006 conference semifinals, one of the great series in playoff history. San Antonio (54-28) is without Argentine star Manu Ginobili, who has a stress fracture in his ankle.

   The Trail Blazers (54-28) are in the playoffs for the first time since 2003. Led by Chinese superstar Yao Ming, the Rockets (53-29) will be trying to get out of the first round for the first time since 1997.

   Sunday's games include the third-seeded Magic hosting the sixth-seeded Philadelphia 76ers and the fifth-seeded Miami Heat visiting the fourth-seeded Atlanta Hawks in East meetings and the second-seeded Denver Nuggets entertaining the seventh-seeded New Orleans Hornets in a West showdown.

   The Magic are led by superstar center Dwight Howard but have concern about the sprained ankle of Turkish forward Hedo Turkoglu. They swept all three games from the 76ers (41-41) during the season.

   Powered by MVP candidate Dwyane Wade, the Heat (43-39) have not won a playoff series since capturing the 2006 Finals. The Hawks (47-35) are looking for their first postseason series win in 10 years.

   The Hornets (49-33) feature All-Stars Chris Paul and David West but will have their hands full with the Nuggets (54-28), who are led by 2004 Finals MVP Chauncey Billups and will be looking to advance to the conference semifinals for the first time since 1994.

   "We're looking forward to an exciting and possibly unpredictable playoffs, or maybe totally predictable, and that's the beauty of playoffs," Commissioner David Stern said.