Last night the draft took place, and outside of the Grizzlies getting OJ Mayo, who was originally drafted by the T’Wolves, for Kevin Love, there wasn’t a whole ton of surprise. Here’s a recap of the Top 10.

1.) Chicago Bulls, Derrick Rose: This thing was done the moment they landed the No. 1 pick. It’s his hometown, he was the best player in March, and it all made sense. What happens to Kirk Heinrich is up in the air, but this guy will be a star in this league for a long, long time.

2.) Miami Heat, Michael Beasley: Beasley with Marion and D’Wade? Not bad. Not bad at all.

3.) Minnesota T’Wolves, OJ Mayo: He was traded for Kevin Love.

4.) Seattle Supersonics Russell Westbrook: This is the guy I felt would be the steal of the draft, but at the No. 4 spot, is he still a steal? Regardless, he’s going to play lockdown D on anyone that’s got a ball in front of him. Great pick.

5.) Memphis Grizzlies, Kevin Love: Traded for OJ.

6.) New York Knicks, Danilo Gallinari: He’s an Italian guy, one I don’t know much about, but those European players are either great or they bust. The bad news? There’s not many people coming from Europe that play defense, something the Knicks really, really lack.

7.) LA Clippers, Eric Gordon: The one-year Indiana star. We’ll see how he does with the big boys.

8.) Milwaukee Bucks, Joe Alexander: He’s 6′8″, 220 pounds, and they just acquired Richard Jefferson. Where does that put Alexander on the roster?

9.) Charlotte Bobcats, DJ Augustin: Say goodbye to Raymond Felton.

10.) New Jersey Nets, Brook Lopez: Ric Smits, maybe?

It’s probably not the new Dream Team — I mean, how can you beat Hakeem, Clyde, Charles, Scottie and MJ? — but it’s as formidable a crew as the U.S. has put together in a long, long time. The 12 man team was named today, and it lists some pretty good names.

The team is headlined by the likes of Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, but joining them will be Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Chris Bosh, Tayshaun Prince, Michael Redd, Dwight Howard, Carlos Boozer, and Carmelo Anthony.

Though I’d leave a few of those off — there’s got to better player than Redd, Prince, and Kidd — it’s a solid squad. The starting five will more than likely be Paul, Kobe, D-Wade, LBJ, and D. Howard. That leaves guys like Jason Kidd, Deron Williams, and Chris Bosh coming off the bench, which is about as good a sixth, seventh and eighth man as it gets.

Oddly, not a single player from the World Champion Celtics. No one in LA’s complaining about that one.

Mike D’Antoni, former coach of the great Suns and current coach of the sorry Knicks, has officially entered purgatory, as he was announced as the Knicks coach today.

“I will adapt what I do. Now I like to play fast, move the ball and all that stuff, and we’ll try to do that as best as we can,” D’Antoni said Tuesday. “Obviously you’re going to be a little slower than [the Suns], but at the same time there’s no reason why you can’t run, be exciting and have good ball movement.

“There’s 30 teams out there all with the same goal in the off-season, and that’s to make the playoffs. And I can’t think of a better team to be with than the Knicks.”

You can’t think of one, Mike? Let me help: San Antonio, Golden State, the Lakers — hell, the Clippers — the Heat, the Hawks, the Celtics, the Bucks, the Cavs, the Bobcats, the Grizzlies, Duke, Alabama, the Bruins. . . .

Phoenix Suns 96, San Antonio Spurs 79: I wouldn’t look at this game as what would happen should the two meet in the first round (it’s a good possibility they will), only because San Antonio seems to step it up about ten notches once in the playoffs. With that said, the Suns absolutely pummeled. Tim Duncan and Tony Parker combined for 43 points, but the rest of the Spurs team scored only 36. Shaq had 16 points and nine rebounds, hopefully justifying some of the many, many millions that he receives annually. Six Suns players scored in double digits, led by Amare Stoudemire’s 21.

New Orleans Hornets 122, Minnesota T’Wolves 90: After a horrible shooting night two days ago, the Hornets found their cure: Play the T’Wolves. The Hornets shot 56 percent from the field, just under 50 percent from beyond the arch, and were led by seemingly everybody. Chris Paul had 19 points and an average — only what Chris Paul would consider average — 16 assists.

Milwaukee Bucks 93, Toronto Raptors 111: Chris Bosh had 32 points and 11 rebounds, helping Toronto avoid a four-game losing streak. The Raptors are still in seventh place, which sets them up to play Detroit in Round 1 of the playoffs.

Charlotte Bobcats 107, New York Knicks 109: The Knicks have won three straight! Quick, extend Isiah’s contract!

Atlanta Hawks 98, Indiana Pacers 112: Mike Dunleavy dropped 28 points for the Pacers, and Jermaine O’Neal had 10 points in his return, as the Indiana Pacers beat the Hawks to help avoid playoff elimination. Both teams have four games left; the Hawks play Boston, Orlando, New York and Miami, and Indiana faces off against Philadelphia, Charlotte, Washington and New York. It’ll be hard for Atlanta to blow this, but don’t put anything past them. They are, after all, the Hawks.

Utah Jazz 77, New Orleans Hornets 66: Chris Paul had four points and nine assists on 2-11 shooting. Peja led all Hornets players with 15 points. The Hornets shot 36 percent from the field, and only 21 perecent from beyond the arch. With the loss, the Hornets still hold the best record in the West, and can avoid having to play Dallas in the first round, which, I assure you, will give San Antonio serious problems should they meet then.

Boston Celtics 107, Milwaukee Bucks 104: Go, Boston, go. Next up for the Celtics: Chewing through the Hawks in Round 1 of the playoffs like they’re some kind of super buzzsaw.

Phoenix Suns 127, Memphis Grizzlies 113: The Suns are starting to win with Shaq, and like the ongoing theme in the West, are going to make the third ranked team seriously mad that they’ll have to play these guys in Round 1. If you’re the No. 1 seed, you play Denver. No. 2 seed, you play Dallas. No. 3 seed, you play Phoenix. Compare that to out East, where the No. 1 seed gets Atlanta, the No. 2 seed gets Toronto, and the No. 3 seed gets Philadelphia. The question of “Who’s more battle tested?” when they get to the Finals won’t be a hard one to answer.

Sacramento Kings 132, Golden State Warriors 140: Nelly’s still alive, and so are his Warriors. The game didn’t feature a whole ton of fundamental defense, but it did feature a lot of up-and-down game with multiple guys scoring multiple points. Both teams featured six players in double digits, led by Baron Davis’ 33 points. Golden State is tied with Denver, but the Nuggets hold the tie-breaker.

Denver Nuggets 117, LA Clippers 99: Keeping pace, Denver. Keeping pace.

Philadelphia 76′ers 95, Boston Celtics 90: It was a stunning home loss, one I bet on, one I loss on, and I can’t say I’m too happy about the suddenly surging Sixers. Andre Iguodala led all Sixers with 28 points, followed by Andre Miller’s 20 and rookie Thaddeus Young’s 16. The win moved Philadelphia into sixth place in the East, and did nothing to hurt the standing of the first place Celtics.

Phoenix Suns 105, Detroit Pistons 100: Is it bad when you bet so much you don’t know which team you took? I’m at work, and can’t check my Sportsbook account, but I’m thinking I got Phoenix at +3. Let’s hope, anyway. Amare Stoudemire led the Suns with 36. Steve Nash had nine assists.

Milwaukee Bucks 73, Miami Heat 78: It’s quite possibly Miami’s last win of the season. Really. The heat had five scorers in double digits — probably also a last — led by Chris Quinn’s 24. When Chris Quinn is your best player, well, then, you’re in trouble.

New Jersey Nets 106, New York Knicks 91: It’s the old adage: Don’t bet on the Knicks. I didn’t. I won. Ironically, with the Nets win, they’re closer to the playoffs, while in Dallas, with their loss, they find themselves falling out of the playoffs. Guess that Jason Kidd trade paid off after all.

Denver Nuggets 120, Memphis Grizzlies 106: The Nuggets have now won three straight, and just for the record, they’ve scored 100 points or more in their last 12 games.

Portland Trail Blazers 94, Seattle Supersonics 97: All five Seattle starters had double digit scoring efforts, and Kevin Durant put in 23 points on a rare good shooting night (9-13). Martell Webster had 23 points for the struggling Trail Blazers.

LA Lakers 123, Golden State Warriors 119: It took overtime, but like I said: Jump on Kobe’s boat when he’s coming off a loss. He had 30 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists, leading the Lakers to victory.

With no football games, it’s hard to gamble, so, thankfully, we can throw our money away on NBA games that can really go either way. But it’s entertaining, right? And, in short, that’s the main reason we gamble. We don’t do it to win or lose — we do it because it takes an otherwise boring chunk of the night and becomes very, very entertaining, even if the entertainment is accompanied with many hours of grief afterwards. Enjoy my picks. I’m the best.

On The Season: 25-28-1 Against The Spread

Philadelphia 76′ers @ Boston Celtics (-10): Take this one. Take it all day. Boston wins by a hundred.

New Jersey Nets (+2) @ New York Knicks: Rule of betting basketball: Don’t bet on the Knicks. It’s won me money for the most part, so I’m sticking to it.

Milwaukee Bucks(+1) @ Miami Heat: That rule mentioned above, it’s starting to apply to the Heat. When the two teams play together, it’ll be an interesting coin flip.

Phoenix Suns @ Detroit Pistons(-3): Detroit plays defense. Phoenix is still trying to figure that one out. And though the team is doing much better with Shaq now, I like the Pistons at home.

Denver Nuggets (-7) @ Memphis Grizzlies: Denver’s been on a tear, and AI and ‘Melo are finally starting to click together. Memphis, meanwhile, is heading for the lottery, and wondering where yet another year has gone.

Sacramento Kings @ Houston Rockets (-7): Let’s start another streak, people. This team was easy money, and we need it to get back that way.

Portland Trail Blazers @ Seattle Supersonics (+9): There’s not a team I’ve been more burnt by than the Trail Blazers. They’re a tempting team to pick, but when I ride ‘em I die with ‘em. Seattle’s no stellar team, but I’ll take the eight at home and run with it.

Los Angeles Lakers (-2) @ Golden State: Eh. Probably a toss up. But I like Kobe after losing and struggling the night before.

Detroit Pistons 136, Denver Nuggets 120: The Nuggets have scored 298 points in their last two games, and they’ve only managed one win in the two. They scored 120 in this game, but there was no defense there: The Pistons shot 60 percent from the field, as well as 60 percent from beyond the arch, with seven Detroit players in double digits. ‘Melo and AI combined for 47 points in the losing effort.

Miami Heat 112, Milwaukee Bucks 106: It was Miami’s first win in the month of March, and possibly their last. Outside of their game against New York on the 27th, the rest of the schedule is pretty tough.

New Jersey Nets 96, Chicago Bulls 112: The Nets scored eight points in the second quarter. EIGHT. If that’s not an indication of how the game ended, well, then you haven’t seen much basketball. The only thing that surprises me is only a 16 point win when your opponent had an EIGHT point quarter.

Los Angeles Lakers 102, Dallas Mavericks 100: The Lakers snapped the Mavs five game winning streak, riding the heels of Kobe Bryant’s 29 point oeffort. Jason Kidd had one point and seven assists, proving just how valuable he is to this team.

Boston Celtics 94, Houston Rockets 74: Not to take anything away from the Rockets, but in their run, they hadn’t played a team of this caliber. Twenty-two wins is impressive, don’t get me wrong; but losing by 20 at home to end the streak is a little deflating. The Rockets leading scorer was Luis Scola with 15 points, and T-Mac only managed eight points on 4/11 shooting. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett combined for 42 points in the win.

Phoenix Suns 111, Portland Trail Blazers 98: Six Suns players scored double digits, and outside of LaMarcus Aldridge’s 31 points, no one on the Blazers decided to show up.

With no football games, it’s hard to gamble, so, thankfully, we can throw our money away on NBA games that can really go either way. But it’s entertaining, right? And, in short, that’s the main reason we gamble. We don’t do it to win or lose — we do it because it takes an otherwise boring chunk of the night and becomes very, very entertaining, even if the entertainment is accompanied with many hours of grief afterwards. Enjoy my picks. I’m the best.

Last night: 3-5
On the season: 16-21-1

Tonight’s games:

Denver Nuggets @ Detroit (-6): I want to pick the Nuggets, but based on my recent success, I’m going opposite. Take the Pistons.

Miami @ Milwaukee (-5): It’s a bad NBA season when every game, you say, “Wow, I don’t want to bet on either of those teams.” This is one of those, but take the Bucks.

New Jersey Nets @ Chicago (+6): Six points at home. Why not?

LA Lakers (+5) @ Dallas Mavericks: Last time these two played in Dallas, the Lakers won in OT. So I’ll take five points now and feel pretty safe about it.

Boston Celtics (-1) @ Houston Rockets: I just want to say I was the one that called the end of the infamous streak.

Golden State Warriors (-1) @ Sacramento Kings: Eh. I like the Warriors.

Phoenix Suns (-3) @ Portland Trail Blazers: If you’ve kept up, you know every time I bet the Blazers I lose. Let’s hope every time I bet against them isn’t a similar outcome.

Indiana Pacers 111, Orlando Magic 122: Orlando Magic clinched a playoff spot — this should be some indication of just how bad the East really is — riding the efforts of Hedo Turkoglu (27 points), Rashard Lewis (22), Maurice Evans (19), Dwight Howard (18), and Keith Bogans off the bench (11). The Pacers droped to 25-41, and are still only three games out of the 8-spot in the East, giving you a final indiciation of just how bad the Conference really is.

San Antonio Spurs 96, Philadelphia 76′ers 103: It’s hard to imagine the Sixers are really putting a run together, but the Sixers are really putting a run together. Andre Miller had 32 points and the other Andre, Andre Iguodala, chipped in 25 points to help give Philly their ninth win in 11 tries. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli combined for 49 points for the Spurs.

Los Angeles Clippers, Washington Wizards 119: Antwan Jamison brought the Wizards back when down four points with only seven seconds to play. Jamison hit a three-pointer with 4.5 seconds left to cut the Clips lead to one point (98-97). Tim Thomas then hit two free throws to give the Clips a three point lead, and then Jamison hit another three, sending the game into overtime. He finished with 36 points, and helped the Wizards avoid a humiliating defeat to the worst team in the NBA (and even if their record says that, I still say it’s much more a disgrace to lose to the Knicks).

Sacramento Kings 99, Phoenix Suns 127: Shaquille O’Neal looked like his old self, scoring 17 points and grabbing eight boards for the Suns. Well, maybe not old self, but better than what they’ve gotten. Amare Stoudemire led the Suns with 30 points.