UP FOR GRABS

At this time of year, I always like to offer a little prayer: Thank heaven that’s over.

This NBA season was especially grinding in the West, where all the playoff teams won at least 50 games, even as they hacked one another up down the stretch while the coaches joked that the playoffs started weeks ago.

Well, they would have been joking if any of them thought it was funny.

Now, welcome to the first round from hell.

In all four Western series, there will be at least one team that could conceivably win a title. In one, San Antonio-Phoenix, there will be two.

Lakers fans will be happy to hear that their exalted opinion of their team, even without Andrew Bynum, is shared by some detached observers.

Breathing a sigh of relief after the Mavericks won their final game, which meant missing the Lakers, Dirk Nowitzki noted, “We definitely didn’t want to face them in the first round.”

In another piece of good news, the Mavericks wouldn’t have to face the Lakers until the conference finals!

Unfortunately, Dallas would have to beat the New Orleans Hornets, who are as cohesive as the Mavericks are confused, and the San Antonio-Phoenix winner.

So, if the Lakers will have a rough road out of the West, I don’t think they’ll have to worry about Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Josh Howard and Co.

The East, which is actually a factor for a change, has a more traditional look, with Boston and Detroit as solid favorites to meet in the conference finals.

Detroit has come apart in the last two East finals, with Rasheed Wallace just waiting until the pressure was on to turn on Coach Flip Saunders.

However, being an underdog was good for the Pistons, who won 59 games, their third-highest total.

Unfortunately, they’re still probably going to have to deal with the Celtics, who won 66 games, the third-highest total in their history, which is a lot more storied than the Pistons’ history.

As for Cleveland’s LeBron James, last spring’s hope, you may have to look quickly to see him with the Cavaliers against Washington in the first round.

Can ESPN still run those split-screen ads of LeBron and Kevin Garnett if the Cavaliers are out?

As for all the talk about the Lakers meeting the Celtics in the Finals, there are hundreds of things that would have to happen first, but in the meantime, it’s going to drive the Pistons, Spurs, Suns, Hornets, et al, batty.

At least they can finally do something about it. It’s finally playoff time, officially.

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mark.heisler@latimes.com