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Even though the 2010 NBA trade deadline wasn’t as active as some might’ve thought, there is still plenty of room for discussion. Here at Bankroll Sports, we’re issuing our grades for how teams did under the pressure of Thursday’s deadline.

New York Knicks: A+: There weren’t any teams that did a better job at the deadline than the Knicks. New York knew that it wasn’t competing for a championship this year, but it did successfully dump the salaries of Jordan Hill, Jordan Jeffries, Larry Hughes, Nate Robinson, and Darko Milicic in exchange for a couple first rounders and having to deal with Tracy McGrady’s garbage for the next couple months. Add G Sergio Rodriguez to the mix from Sacramento, and New York knows that these prudent deals can set it up nicely for a run at both LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in the offseason.

Houston Rockets: A: The Rockets really answered the trade by the Mavericks by adding a host of talent from the Knicks and Kings in that three-way deal. Plus, they’re rid of Tracy McGrady now as well and will pick up a couple of picks from New York in the future. The biggest question for HC Rick Adelman is whether he’ll be able to find roles for all of his new starts.

Dallas Mavericks: B+: Any time you can pick up an All-Star, you tend to pull out the stops, but did the Mavs give up a little too much by dealing Josh Howard and Drew Gooden to DC? Caron Butler had better push Dallas into the playoffs an give F Dirk Nowitzki a good counterpart, or Mark Cuban may be regretting this move. All in all though, the Mavericks are probably a better team now than they were before the All-Star Break.

Cleveland Cavaliers: B: The question here isn’t whether GM Danny Ferry would’ve preferred Phoenix’s Amare Stoudemire coming to town or not. The question is whether LeBron James would’ve rather have Stoudemire over Antawn Jamison. Still, as we suggested in our article a couple days ago, Cleveland needed to do something to make sure that The King stayed happy, and this move only made things a heck of a lot harder for the rest of the teams in the Eastern Conference. If the Cavs don’t win the East now, they should be ashamed of themselves.

Utah Jazz: B-: The Jazz get a decent grade for not making a move that they might’ve regretted. Utah is probably going to make the playoffs, and had it dealt Carlos Boozer, that might not have ultimately been the case.

Miami Heat: C: Kudos to the Heat for not giving up too much to get either Amare Stoudemire, Antawn Jamison, or Carlos Boozer. Miami just needs to convince Dwyane Wade that it is really in it to win him another championship, and it might take a big free agent signing to do just that.

Sacramento Kings: D: Who knows what the Kings were thinking by trading away Kevin Martin and Sergio Rodriguez. There wasn’t a heck of a lot that came back Sacramento’s way. It’s pretty clear that the Kings came out as the butt of that three-team deal with the Rockets and Knicks.

Washington Wizards: D-: If you’re a Washington fan, what reasons do you have to show up to the games anymore? No more Gilbert Arenas, no more Antawn Jamison, and no more Caron Butler. The only good news is that this team couldn’t get much worse than it already was, so it may as well try to start over again.

Phoenix Suns: F: No one deserves a worse grade than the Suns at the trade deadline. How on earth can you sit there and shop Amare Stoudemire for weeks and weeks and ultimately do nothing? Take a box of basketballs for him for crying out loud! Now, their leading scorer is disgruntled and probably will be for the rest of the year. Phoenix may not make the postseason, and if that’s the case, heads should role in the desert.

Kobe Bryant has been known for outstanding performances of the past and for his ability to take control over in games over the best the NBA has to offer. Last night was not any different as Bryant lit up the scoreboards again posting a 61 point performance in Madison Square Garden. The Los Angeles Lakers had a solid night as they held of a New York Knicks team who had won 6 of their last 7 by a score of 126-117. Lakers power forward Pau Gasol had an excellent night in a double-double performance knocking down 31 points and pulling down 14 boards. However, it was Bryant that stole the spotlight as he dropped 60 plus points for the 5th time in his career.

Kobe Bryant is no stranger to huge performances as he quite possibly is the best scorer of the modern era. Of course Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points back in 1962 is a feat that will likely never be broken considering how evolved and competitive the NBA has become. However, Bryant has made a few runs and big performances that rank as high as Wilt’s 100 point performance. Last night, the Lakers franchise player posted 50 or more points for the 25th time in his career. The performance took place in the historic and majestic Madison Square Garden where Kobe surpassed Michael Jordan as the highest scoring game ever for an opponent ever at the Garden. The 61 points also ranked 1st all time at Madison Square Garden for any player as Bryant edged out Bernard King’s 60 points back in 1984.

Kobe’s 25 50 point games ranks 3rd all-time behind Wilt Chamberlain who had 118 50 point nights back before there was a shot clock and the great Michael Jordan who posted 31 50 point games. The miraculous night still fell short of Kobe Bryant’s career best when he drained 81 points against the Toronto Raptors in January of 2006. Bryant performance last night was led by a 61% shooting performance from the floor (19-31), 50% shooting from behind the arc (3-6), and Bryant capped all of it off by not missing a single free throw in 20 attempts from the stripe. The performance along with the 31 points from Pau Gasol marked the highest scoring game all-season by two teammates as they nearly got to the century mark between the two as they ended up with 92 points combined.

The Lakers win moved them to a 38-9 record on the year that ranks the 2nd best in the NBA. Los Angeles has now won their last 3 games including the last 6 of 7. The game was the 3rd of six straight road games. Los Angeles will now get one night off before two hectic back to back games with Toronto and the highly anticipated showdown with the Boston Celtics on Thursday night. The Celtics own the best record in the NBA at 40-9 barely ahead of the Lakers and the showdown will represent last year’s Finals re-match and also represents the two best teams in the NBA at this point in the season. The Lakers won the first meeting this season inside the Staples Center when Bryant led the team with 27 points as they took down the Celtics 92-83. However, the Celtics will likely be in better position to get some revenge this time around. Boston not only will host the meeting which is huge considering Boston owns a 24-2 home record after sporting the best home record in the league last season at 34-6 in the NBA. The Celtics will also get the slight advantage heading into the contest considering they will be on a little fresher legs as the Lakers battle the Raptors on Wednesday night. However, Bryant has a tendency to have some of his biggest nights on the biggest stages and the Lakers will look for him to have another big performance when they travel to Boston on Thursday.

The Boston Celtics are off to one of the best starts in NBA history at a record of 27-2. While it is still very early in the season, the Celtics can see a glimpse of history in the making. The Celtics are on pace to challenge the 1996 Chicago Bulls for the best record ever in a season. The 1996 Bulls finished their brilliant campaign with a final record of 72-10 and capped it off with an NBA Championship as well. Boston is off to a mind blowing pace through the early half of the season. The Celtics have 53 games remaining this season and the competition will likely pick up. However, if Boston could keep up similar pace they could quite possibly achieve the best season ever in the history of the NBA.

Boston is one of the most historical franchises in NBA history. The Celtics have an amazing 17 NBA Championships that is by far more than any other franchise in NBA history. Boston has established the best start in NBA history at a mark of 27-2. Only two other teams can compare to that kind of start. Both the 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers and 1969-70 New York Knicks started their seasons 26-2. They also both went on to win NBA Championships. With last nights 110-91 victory over the 76ers, the Celtics have now won 19 straight games which equals a team record. Boston is making their claim as one of the best teams to ever take the floor in professional basketball.

Celtics’ coach Doc Rivers has done a fabulous job getting his guys to play premier defense. Despite all the offensive weapons, the Boston defensive schemes have been major reason for their success. This season the Celtics are only allowing 91.4 points per game which ranks them as the 2^nd best scoring defense in the NBA. Boston also ranks first in the NBA in defensive field goal percentage. The Celtics are only allowing opposing teams to shoot 41% from the floor on average which is by far the best in the league. The Celtics have only allowed teams to score over 100 points 7 times this season in the 30 games played. That statistic alone is pretty remarkable considering how high scoring the entire NBA has become. However, Boston has stayed with an old school type of basketball that focuses on defense first and it has paid off big time.

Offensively the Celtics are as talented as any team in the league. Unlike the Los Angeles Lakers or Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston seldom has one player stand out game in and game out. Unlike other top teams that are led by star players such as Kobe Bryant and Lebron James, the Celtics can have any of their starting five post a big night. Other teams have the stress of worrying how their start performer will play every night. When those players are off a lot of times the entire team struggles. The Celtics do not have those worries because they have a number of players who can pick up the slack on any given night. Boston is led by a trio of stars in Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett. The Celtics average 50 points per game just between those 3 standouts. Boston benefits from having this type of talent considering when one player is off his game others will pick it up. Many teams can not afford there star players to struggle. However, Boston can play at a top level every night despite individual performances. This reason alone is why they are the most consistent team in the NBA.

Boston is on their way to accomplishing probably one of the most prestigious records a team could capture in the regular season. Boston remaining schedule will most certainly wear down the players and they are likely to lose this blistering early season pace. However, if the Celtics do stay on path they could legitimately challenge the 76’ Bulls for the best record of all-time. Boston has a huge match-up with the Los Angeles Lakers on the horizon to take place on Christmas Day. The game will mark a battle between powerhouses in effort to gain NBA supremacy. Each team will be trying to prove they are the best in the NBA and a win will go along way for each team’s confidence about where they stand in the league. If the Celtics could escape Los Angeles with a victory, the momentum could definitely last the rest of the season.

The Celtics simply have to keep similar pace in tact. Even if Boston were to lose twice as many games in their next 29 games, they would still be on pace to end the season with around 9 losses. This means that every game could be one loss or one win away from breaking the record at season’s end. So far this season Boston has faired well against the best competition in the NBA. Orlando, Cleveland, and Los Angeles have the best records in the NBA behind Boston by 5 games or more. Boston is 2-0 against these teams this season with convincing wins in both games against Orlando and Cleveland. The Celtics will get the Lakers next up the Thursday night and will try to stay perfect against the elite teams in the NBA. The Celtics appear to be headed for a probable chance at history. Unless some drastic things change, Boston will get their chance to stake claim as the best team in the history of professional basketball. Record or no record, for now sit back and watch one of the best teams to ever take the floor and applaud their strive at greatness.