Getty Images/Ringer illustration With about a week to go until the new season tips off, let's take a broad survey of the league by analyzing one key number that helps explain every team's situation, for better or for worse Meaningful NBA action is almost back. Almost as soon as the immensely entertaining WNBA Finals reach their climax, the men will return to center stage, as the defending champion Boston Celtics host the first regular-season game of the 2024-25 campaign next Tuesday. With a week left before the season begins, let's take a broad survey of the league by—as is tradition here—analyzing one key number that helps explain all 30 teams' situations, for better or for worse. Teams are listed in order of their over/under win totals from FanDuel. Boston Celtics: 126.3 The most important NBA trend in the middle of last season was the sudden change to the league's scoring environment, as a more permissive whistle slowed offenses after an explosion of high-scoring games. But somebody forgot to tell the champs. The Celtics weren't just unaffected by the changes; they thrived despite them. Boston had the best offensive rating in the NBA, per Cleaning the Glass, both before and...