LAS VEGAS — Let the battle for no. 8 begin.

Heading into the second half of the season, both local teams find themselves outside the Eastern Conference’s top eight teams and the playoff spot that comes with it. However, neither club is completely out of it. The Nets hold the no. 9 spot, two and a half games behind no. 8 Miami, while the Knicks are in the no. 10 spot, just half a game behind New Jersey.

Thus, there’s the real possibility that one or both clubs could work their way into the postseason, or, at the very least — create some meaningful games in April. Obviously, the outcome depends, in part, on the developments in New Jersey this week with the looming trade deadline (more on that tomorrow). But if we assume for a moment that the teams will stay reasonably intact, it becomes clear that each club has some favorable points regarding its playoff chances.

For starters, though, let’s evaluate the competition. Provided no bizarre rash of injuries unfolds, we can already put five teams into the postseason: Detroit, Washington, Toronto, Cleveland, and Chicago. A sixth team, Indiana, is also likely to get in (the Pacers are four games ahead of the Nets despite a series of distractions).

Therefore, the likely rivals for the final playoff slots are the two Florida teams, Orlando and Miami. The defending champion Heat surprisingly finds itself at just 26–26 at the break. Most observers expect that number to improve now that Shaquille O’Neal has returned and the Heat has righted the worst aspects of its early-season struggles. However, this remains a vulnerable team. Any lengthy injury to Dwyane Wade — without whom the team is 1–6 this year — would immediately put Miami’s playoff chances in peril. And of course, O’Neal is far form a sure thing to finish the season intact.

That said, a more realistic target in the battle for the no. 8 spot is the Orlando Magic. Orlando is 27–26 after a 13–4 start, and has struggled to score points of late, thanks to a series of injuries to its wing players. Ironically, it was the loss of ex-Knick Trevor Ariza that keyed the Magic’s most recent slide, and could be the catalyst for the Knicks to claim a playoff spot. Grant Hill, Keyon Dooling, and Hedo Turkoglu have also missed chunks of time, with the notoriously frail Hill and the perennially flu-ridden Turkoglu likely to require further absences.

The Magic’s schedule also isn’t favorable the rest of the way. Orlando has played 28 home games, tied for the most of any team this season, so the rest of its schedule is road-heavy. It’s also laden with tough teams, especially in the near term. Orlando’s next eight contests include matchups against seven consecutive opponents with winning records, six of which are on the road.

This provides a golden opportunity for each of the locals to gain some ground. For instance, the Nets come out of the break with a similarly favorable slate — they play five straight at home, and five of six against teams with losing records. Things quickly turn brutal after that, but by then New Jersey should also have New Jersey back in the lineup. All of which should leave Nets fans reasonably optimistic about a late playoff push if the roster stays the same.

But let’s assume for a moment that the rumors are true and things won’t stay intact — hardly far-fetched, in spite of Rod Thorn’s poo-poohing the odds. In that case, New Jersey would likely fall out of the race, and thus the Knicks’ opportunity would be even greater.

Furthermore, check out New York’s upcoming schedule: After tonight, the ‘Bockers won’t play a team with a winning record until March 10. That’s eight straight games against the league’s doormats if you’re scoring at home, and it will be a huge disappointment if the locals don’t claim at least five of them.

Notice I said “after tonight,” because this is what I’ve been leading up to; tonight might be the biggest game of the Knicks’ season. They host the Magic at MSG, and with a win they’ll close the gap to three games with 28 left to play for both sides, including a re-match in New York City on March 26.

Considering the huge disparity in the clubs’ upcoming schedules after tonight, it’s possible that if the Knicks win they could catch Orlando within the next two weeks. Plus, since New York already beat the Magic on February 3 in the teams’ only other meeting, the Knicks would hold the tiebreaker edge with a win tonight.

On the other hand, a loss tonight would be crushing. It would put the Knicks five games out, and in addition, it would require them to win the March rematch to hold the tiebreaker.

But let’s get back to the glasshalf-full perspective for a moment. This is the first time since the season started that I’ve felt the Knicks’ playoff chances were something beyond a “pipe dream.” Everybody’s healthy, the young guys are showing improvement, and the schedule looks favorable. Yes, they still have plenty of faults — not playing defense, for instance, or the shot-happy guards. But if they can prevail tonight, it just might put the Knicks on a path to the postseason.

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A brief postmortem on the insanity that was All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas:

• A new Jason Kidd trade rumor ripped through the arena just before tip-off and had the Nets point guard being sent to the Lakers in a three-way deal involving Portland’s Jamaal Magloire. It’s not clear to me why the Nets would want Magloire, but maybe that’s why the deal was “rumored” as opposed to “completed.”

• Dwight Howard’s 12-foot-6-inch sticker slap was the most original dunk this competition has seen in a long time, and it’s a shame the judges shafted him. But thank goodness they implemented the “two-minute rule” for Nate Robinson this year — otherwise he might still be trying to land his final dunk.

• Can Las Vegas support an NBA team? I still have my doubts. For all the talk about gambling, there are a few other issues, too: It’s a small market, half the city ‘s population works at night, and there’s no arena. The Thomas & Mack Center, where this weekend’s events were held, was inadequate enough for commissioner David Stern to declare the All-Star Game won’t come back until there’s a new building.

•As for the game itself? You didn’t miss much. Let’s just say it seemed a lot of players looked like they had done far too much partying. One exception was the Knicks’ David Lee, who dominated the Rookie-Sophomore Game by shooting 14–for–14 and winning game MVP honors.

jhollinger@nysun.com