Remember a few years ago when the Clippers signed Brand to a deal, keeping a young team in place and making everyone believe they were going to make a run over the next few years? Well, they made a run one year, and I guess have decided that’ll be enough. The always stingy team has apparently lost the Elton Brand sweepstakes, and it’s apparently been won by Philadelphia.

I don’t have any details on the signing yet, but sources are saying the deal will be worth nearly $82 million. Given that the Sixers were able to give Detroit a scare in the playoffs this year, and now they apparently have Elton Brand. . . well, it certainly helps bolster the East, which is generally looked at as half the competition of the West.

Detroit Pistons 100, Philadelphia 76′ers 77: Watching the Sixers win games one and three was fun; after the first one, you just figured Detroit would blow ‘em out every game after. But then after the second win, with the Sixers taking a 2-1 series lead, you started asking yourself: “Can this team really beat the Pistons?”

The Sixers are a young team with a lot of talent, but just fell short the final three games of the series, capped off by a rough home loss in which the Sixers managed only 33 points in the entire first half. Philadelphia shot 33 percent on the game and had only three players score in double figures. Richard Hamilton had 24 points, and Chauncey Billups had 20 for the Pistons, who also got a solid 29 point performance from their bench. They’ll play the Orlando Magic in the second round, who beat the Raptors in five games.

Dallas Mavericks 94, New Orleans Hornets 99: The Mavericks made a late push at the end of the game to try and salvage the season, but it was an oh-so-feeble attempt to end their imminent doom. Chris Paul had 24 points and 15 assists — 11 of which came in the first half alone — and David West led all Hornets with 25. Dallas exits in the first round for the second year in a row, and there’s speculation that Avery Johnson’s job may be on the line. I’d squash the speculation: If you’re looking for a finger to point, point it at the guy that pulled the trigger on the Jason Kidd trade. Wait. He’s the owner. Bye, Avery.

Philadelphia 76′ers 81, Detroit Pistons 98: Three games into the series, it looked as if Philly may actually steal one. Five games into the season, it doesn’t look like they stand much of a chance. Detroit manhandled Philadelphia, going up 12 at the half, 20 by the third, and then coasted to victory through the fourth. Chauncey Billups led the Pistons with 21 points, followed by Rip Hamilton (20), Rasheed Wallace (19), and Tayshaun Prince (17). Detroit now has a 3-2 lead heading back to Philadelphia.

Utah Jazz 69, Houston Rockets 95: It’s odd the Jazz swept the first two games at home, went back to Utah, where they had a 37-4 record through the regular season, are playing Tracy McGrady — who’s known for choking it up in the first round — and this thing is still going on. Not only going on, but Houston is beating the ever living hell out of them. Utah was 36 percent from the field and 22 percent from beyond the arch. Carlos Boozer led the Jazz with 19 points on 8-18 shooting. T-Mac led the Rockets with 29 points. The series is 3-2, and resumes Thursday night in Utah.

Phoenix Suns 87, San Antonio Spurs 92: They said it would be one of the best first round series ever, and I agreed. Problem is, it wasn’t. The Spurs won the series 4-1 last night, on the back of two solid performances by Tony Parker (31 points), and Tim Duncan (29 points and 17 rebounds). Shaq finished with 13 points and nine boards in only 29 minutes of play, posing the question: Why the hell did they trade for a guy that can’t run the court for more than 29 minutes? Good call, Steve Kerr, it’s nice to see you’re still helping the Spurs win Championships.

Cleveland Cavaliers 100, Washington Wizards 97: I wasn’t able to watch the game because I was busy, but it sounded like it was a good one. Delonte West, not LeBron James, hit a three pointer with time winding down, helping the Cavs to a 3-1 series lead, and the series now shifts back to Cleveland. LeBron James had 34 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, proving that he’s the most overrated player in the league and isn’t good at all. Gilbert Arenas played 32 minutes and managed only 10 points on 3-8 shooting.

San Antonio Spurs 86, Phoenix Suns 105: The series isn’t over yet. Though it’ll probably end in a couple of days in San Antonio, Phoenix fended off elimination and lives to see another day. The Suns shot just 42 percent from the field, but were able to hold San Antonio to 39 percent. Raja Bell led all Suns players with 27 points.

In Progress: Detroit Pistons @ Philadelphia 76′ers. Those pesky Sixers are hanging around. If this thing goes to 3-1, then you may want to stop saying, “Well, Detroit’s going to win the series,” and start saying, “Well, Detroit may be fucked.”

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: 2-1
On the Season: 43-41-1

Tonight’s Games:

Charlotte Bobcats (+11) @ Toronto Raptors: Picking Charlotte doesn’t mean by any stretch of the imagination that I’m picking a winner. But the Raptors have struggled, and 11 points seems a bit high. Raptors win, ‘Cats cover.

Philadelphia 76′ers (+2) @ Atlanta Hawks: I hope the Hawks win. I always do when I make these picks. But they’ve beaten up on bad teams, they’ve won five straight, and when you’re an Atlanta fan, you know five straight is about three too many. The streak ends. Points are nice, but Sixers in an upset.

New York Knicks @ New Orleans Hornets (-15.5): It’s been a while since I’ve seen a spread this high and taken it. But we’ve all seen the Knicks, which should be enough said.

New Jersey Nets (+10) @ Detroit Pistons: Take the points.

Dallas Mavericks (+6) @ LA Lakers: Every time these two teams play, the game is close. Look for another OT thriller. Mavs win.

New Orlenans Hornets 98, Orlando Magic 97: Peja Stojakovic had hit a three point field goal in 35 consecutive games, and was in danger of not making it to No. 36, until the final minute where he nailed two threes, one to win the game, catapulting the Hornets to victory. Chris Paul had 19 points and 12 assists for the Hornets.

Phoenix Suns 120, Denver Nuggets 126: The standings in the West are getting awful hazy, and this one didn’t help any. The win puts Denver in the eighth and final spot, just a half game ahead of Golden State, and puts the Mavericks that much closer to not making the playoffs (they’re currently a half game ahead of Denver, and only one game ahead of Golden State). The Warriors and Mavs face-off tonight, and if last year was any indication, that’s something the people of Dallas don’t want to see in their final eight games.

Philadelphia 76′ers 108, New Jersey Nets 99: Philadelphia is now one game above .500 for the first time in forever, and the Nets are quickly falling their way out of playoff contention. The Hawks now have a 3 1/2 game lead over the struggling Nets, but it doesn’t really matter: Whoever does get in, you see, plays the Celtics. And whoever plays the Celtics, you see, will be swept.

Sacramento Kings 99, Houston Rockets 98: After the Rockets won 22 straight games, they’ve now dropped five of their last nine. It’s nice to peak in the middle of the season to make sure you make the playoffs, but it’s not good time to go through one of your worst dry-spells heading into May.

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: 36-36-1

New Orleans Hornets @ Orlando Magic (+1.5): Magic are a solid team at home, and they bomb too many threes on a regular basis for me to feel comfortable betting against them.

Philadelphia 76′ers (+1) @ New Jersey Nets: I have to root, root, root for this game. If the Hawks can win their next game, and Jersey lose this one, we’ll build almost a four game lead with eight games left. And then just get swept by the Celtics in the opening round.

Detroit Pistons (-6) @ Minnesota T’Wolves: The T’Wolves are getting better, and the Pistons have been slumping, but this just seems too easy.

Phoenix Suns (+5) @ Denver Nuggets: Both teams like to run, and when I think of running, I think of the Suns. It’s hard to beat them at their own game, even with a sluggish Shaq. They may not win, but they’ll cover the four.

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.

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: 5-2
On the season: 21-23-1

Denver Nuggets (+2) @ Philadephia 76′ers: The Nuggets don’t play defense, but they do play offense, and I feel like AI, going back to his old home, will come out victorious, or at least lose by one.

Washington Wizards @ Orlando Magic (-7): The Magic have been bombing threes when they’re at home, and Washington’s suffering a rough skid right now.

Miami Heat (+14) @ Toronto Raptors: The Raptors have been awful without Bosh. This spread makes me think Bosh must be back, but even in his first game, expect some rust, take the points.

Charlotte Bobcats (+6) @ Indiana Pacers: Two bad teams, take the ‘dog.

Atlanta Hawks @ New Jersey Nets (-2): Hawks are one bad team on the road.

Memphis Grizzlies (+7) @ Minnesota T’Wolves: I just can’t take Minnesota too seriously as a team favored by this many points.

Houston Rockets (+3) New Orleans Hornets: Time to start a new streak. And with the defense they play, Paul and Peja shouldn’t have the easiest time scoring.

Detroit Pistons (+1) @ Cleveland Cavaliers: I love me some Pistons when they’re ‘dogs.

Phoenix Suns (-10) @ Seattle Supersonics: Suns seem to be coming together. ‘Sonics still have some work to do.