Injuries are part of every sport, no matter what precautions are taken or what wise policies put in place. But if this year's crop isn't evidence that 82-games isn't too long (especially with best-of-seven playoff series, preseason and summer international competition), I'm not sure what is.

Just yesterday we learned that Kevin Garnett is out for the playoffs. And now LeBron James won't be forced to pass the test that Kobe Bryant couldn't in last year's finals. Sure Orlando (even without Jameer Nelson who was having a fantastic season before he went down) is a good team, but is anyone going to be thrilled to see Cleveland beat them or a Garnett-less Celtics team?

In the West we've known for a couple weeks that Manu Ginobili is out. The Spurs admirably clawed their way to a No. 3 seed, and will still be tough under Gregg Popovich, but their chances of upsetting the Lakers are slim.

Another team on the rise, the Hornets, has its full roster, but Tyson Chandler, its best rebounder and interior defender, is gimpy to the point of ineffectiveness. Their odds of beating the Lakers also seem long.

The bottom line - anything can happen in the playoffs - a Lakers/Cavs final is not assured, and I'd love to see an upset. But the league has to decide whether it's worthwhile to overtax its players every year at the expense of its most important product - the postseason. Because there will be far less interest in the playoffs - at least until the finals - than there would be if Ginobili, Garnett and even Chandler were healthy.

The NBA might make more money with a 60-game regular season that people cared about and that top players played in all the way through when you add in a riveting postseason with healthy stars and players with fresh legs. Over time, the interest in the game would grow because the product would be so much better.

I'm still going to watch some of it. But I'm just not nearly as excited about the matchups as I would be.