The powers-that-be seem to think that it is. But last year’s Golden State Warriors proved otherwise, as did a young Sixers club this past Sunday night in Motown. Of course, that was only one series and one game. Eventually, the size of the stage always seems to catch up with up-and-coming clubs. The playoffs are a rite of passage. They were for Dr. J. They were for Michael Jordan.

The Cavaliers and Wizards not only have a wealth of combined playoff experience – much of it was earned against the other team. Monday night’s matchup between the two clubs will be their 12th postseason meeting in the last three seasons, with the Wine and Gold taking the last seven.

“I think the more you have the better it is for your team,” said Mike Brown. “But I think when it comes to our team and their team – we both have a lot of playoff experience. But it’s still great to have as much playoff experience as possible.”

Brown comes from a system in San Antonio where they’re conditioned for the Second Season. A lesser team might have gotten rattled during Saturday’s high-intensity double-overtime game like the instant classic between the Spurs and Suns. But both clubs simply made one huge play after another in the closing seconds.

The Cavaliers have a combined 503 playoff games between their current roster players. No member of the team – aside from Lance Allred – is without playoff experience.

Ben Wallace and Eric Snow came into Saturday’s game leading the team with 103 postseason contests apiece, although Big Ben passed Eric with the start. But Snow’s experience did play a critical role in the 93-86 win, as he advised the coaching staff in a pre-game meeting to unearth an old back-door play for LeBron that worked to perfection twice in the Game 1 victory.

LeBron is a playoff veteran now, but he can still remember being somewhat out of sorts before his first postseason game against many of these same Wizards.

“I was excited, I was nervous,” LeBron admitted. “I had missed it my first two years. It was an exciting time for me – I couldn’t wait. When I ran out onto the court and we were playing Washington for the first game at home and the excitement from the crowd. It was just overwhelming. I had to catch my second wind before the game even started because I had lost it during the warmups.”

“I couldn’t really focus as much as I wanted, because I was so excited just to be in my first postseason game,” added James. “Now, I’m more focused on the task at-hand.”

The nerves didn’t rattle the young King too much. He went on to record a triple-double in his first playoff game – a 97-86 Cavaliers victory.

LeBron has now suited up for 34 playoffs games – as has Anderson Varejao. Both fifth-year players have seven more games under their belt than 12-year veteran, Joe Smith. Smith last made the postseason in 2005-06 with the Bucks. He remembers his first venture into the postseason, back in 1999 in Minnesota.

“I remember just walking out on the floor and the arena being jam-packed, hours before tip-off,” said the affable power forward. “Usually, the crowd kind of mingles in and before you know it, it’s a full house. But playoff time, man, even the warm-ups are intense. But, you’ve got to be able to step it up and take it to another level.”

LeBron isn’t the only Cavalier to star in his first foray into the playoffs.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas – who came into this year’s first round series with 37 games on his postseason resume – was unconscious as a rookie back in 1998.

Taken with the 20th overall pick one year earlier, Big Z dueled Indiana’s established big man, Rick Smits, leading the Cavaliers with a .571 shooting percentage, finishing second in scoring (17.3 ppg) and rebounding (7.5 rpg) for the series. Ilgauskas scored 25 points in Game 2, and was a force in each of the four games against Indy.

Behind Ben Wallace and Eric Snow on the list of playoff veterans is Damon Jones, who has played in 54 contests. One of those games, of course, was his brief-but-bountiful appearance in Game 6 of the Cavaliers-Wizards first round series two years ago – knocking Washington out of the postseason with a clutch 18-footer from the corner.

“The intensity of the games is totally different,” said the DJ. “But your confidence can carry you through anything. You just need to be confident in your situations and try to focus for as close to 48 minutes as possible.”

Jones was baptized into the postseason as a member of the Pistons. Luckily, the former CBA baller could rely on some solid vets to get him through the process.

“I had Michael Curry, Ben Wallace – great guys and consummate professionals,” added Jones. “They pretty much told me the same thing I tell young guys – just go out there and play hard.”

Naturally, with any cast of characters on an NBA team, there are those guys who – no matter how much playoff experience they have or don’t have – are still nonplussed by the postseason.

“I don’t ever get nerves … I’m cold as ice,” quipped starting guard, Delonte West. “They call me ‘Cool Hand Luke.’”

But West – who backed up that statement on Saturday by canning four huge free throws in the final 15 seconds – does remember getting his eyes opened in that first journey out of the regular season.

“We were playing in Indiana right before Reggie Miller retired, and I definitely got a taste of that jumper he has,” said West. “He taught me a few lessons, and I’ve been anxious to get back to the postseason ever since.

“I went through a couple tough situations to get back here,” he concluded. “But like my mom always told me: ‘The Lord gotta bring you through it to bring you to it.’”