The Boston Celtics enter this season because the NBA champions. And someday this season, the Celtics may take excessive spot on one other league checklist.
Within the NBA’s all-time won-lost standings, amongst energetic franchises, the San Antonio Spurs enter this season with the perfect document. However the Celtics have a path to passing the Spurs for the highest spot within the coming months.
San Antonio’s profitable proportion: .596. Boston’s profitable proportion: .594.
Let’s assume San Antonio goes 41-41 this season. If that occurs, Boston would want to go solely 47-35 to leap the Spurs within the all-time standings.
The Los Angeles Lakers enter the season third amongst all-time groups with a .591 profitable proportion, which means in addition they have a mathematical likelihood of attending to the No. 1 or No. 2 spot this season.
In some order, the Spurs, Celtics and Lakers will most likely be the highest three groups for some time. Utah enters this season fourth on the all-time checklist with a .540 profitable proportion.
The Spurs have ended every of the final 10 seasons — 2014-15 by means of 2023-24 — because the chief in profitable proportion amongst energetic NBA groups.
Boston hasn’t ended a season atop the all-time standings since 1996-97. The Lakers took over the next 12 months and held that spot for 17 seasons, earlier than San Antonio climbed to No. 1.
Workforce milestones looming
Among the many group regular-season milestones which might be inside attain this season:
— New York (26 wins shy) and Golden State (31 wins shy) are each closing in on 3,000 all-time victories. Solely Boston, the Lakers and Philadelphia have gotten to that mark.
— Indiana wants 45 or extra wins this season to get again to the .500 mark all-time. The Pacers enter this 12 months 1,930-1,938 (so, in the event that they ever get eight over .500 this season, they’d be at .500 all-time).
— Denver is 46 wins from 2,000.
— Memphis is 2 wins from 1,000.
— Detroit will play its 6,000th sport on Friday in Cleveland, its second sport of this season.
Jordan, Wilt inside Luka’s attain
Dallas’ Luka Doncic averaged 33.9 factors in 70 video games final season. That pushed his profession common as much as 28.7 per sport, third-best in NBA historical past.
He may transfer nearer to the highest spots this season.
If Doncic duplicates his numbers from final season once more in 2024-25, he’ll inch nearer to No. 1 Michael Jordan (30.12 per sport) and No. 2 Wilt Chamberlain (30.07 per sport).
And if he stays finally season’s tempo, he’ll cross Jordan and Chamberlain for the perfect scoring common someday within the 2026-27 season.
KD, 30K
Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns is closing in on 30,000 factors in his profession, needing 1,076 factors to achieve the milestone. He can be the eighth participant in NBA historical past to get there.
And he can be probably the most environment friendly 30,000-point scorer ever.
Durant enters this season averaging 1.46 factors per shot try, which is best than every of the seven gamers forward of him on the all-time scoring checklist — LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki and Wilt Chamberlain.
His true taking pictures proportion (the superior stat that measures taking pictures effectivity) of 61.9% is properly forward of the seven gamers forward of him as properly.
Completely satisfied twentieth, CP3
Chris Paul is getting into his first season with the San Antonio Spurs and twentieth season total. LeBron James will tie Vince Carter for the most-seasons-played mark with 22, and Paul will turn into the eleventh participant in NBA historical past with no less than 20 seasons.
“It’s surreal, truly,” Paul stated. “It is an unbelievable blessing. … I imply, loads of my teammates are head coaches now. So, I’m grateful to not solely nonetheless be enjoying, however enjoying at a excessive degree. It is enjoyable.”
Paul is No. 3 on the all-time assists and steals checklist. He is inside attain of Jason Kidd, No. 2 on each these lists. Kidd retired with 12,091 assists and a couple of,684 steals; Paul enters this season with 11,894 assists and a couple of,614 steals.
Teaching milestones
Miami’s Erik Spoelstra is getting into his seventeenth season as coach of the Warmth, the third-longest consecutive tenure with one group in NBA historical past behind solely San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich (getting into his twenty ninth 12 months) and Jerry Sloan (who spent 23 seasons with Utah).
Spoelstra is passing Pink Auerbach, who coached Boston for 16 seasons.
Amongst different milestones in play this 12 months:
— Milwaukee’s Doc Rivers is 41 wins away from tying Phil Jackson (1,155) for No. 7 on the all-time checklist.
— Indiana’s Rick Carlisle’s first win this season shall be his 944th, tying Invoice Fitch for eleventh all-time.
— Carlisle and Rivers are scheduled to have 4 conferences this season, which might push their whole to 92 head-to-head video games, together with playoffs. That might be the seventh-most by coaches in NBA historical past. Gene Shue and Pink Holzman confronted off 109 instances, Rick Adelman and Sloan 104, Auerbach and Alex Hannum 100, Don Nelson and Sloan 98, Shue and Jack Ramsay 97, and Auerbach and Al Cervi 95.
— Spoelstra is 10 wins behind No. 18 Nate McMillan (760) and 34 wins behind No. 17 Shue (784).
— Phoenix’s Mike Budenholzer is 16 wins from 500.
— Popovich, the all-time wins chief, is 12 away from 1,400.
Talking of Pop …
There have been 350 head coaches all-time getting into this season, in line with Sportradar. Popovich has coached towards 170 of them — almost half the checklist — and is ready so as to add no less than three extra to his all-time teaching opponent matchup membership this season.
He’ll face the Lakers’ JJ Redick for the primary time (as a coach, anyway; Redick performed 29 regular-season video games and 7 playoff video games towards Popovich’s Spurs) on Nov. 15. Popovich’s first sport towards new Brooklyn coach Jordi Fernandez is a street contest on Dec. 27, and he’ll go up towards new Charlotte coach Charles Lee for the primary time on Feb. 7.
Shifting on up
A take a look at some gamers who might transfer up the all-time lists this season:
— James Harden, Los Angeles Clippers: He begins twentieth at 25,885 factors and he’s most likely going to climb shortly towards the highest 10. With simply 826 factors this season, he would cross No. 19 Kevin Garnett, No. 18 John Havlicek, No. 17 Paul Pierce, No. 16 Tim Duncan, No. 14 Dominique Wilkins and No. 13 Oscar Robertson. Harden can be 33 3-pointers away from No. 2 Ray Allen (2,973) on the all-time checklist.
— Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors: The all-time 3-point king is 1,332 factors from 25,000 for his profession. He can be the tenth participant to attain that many factors with only one franchise.
— DeMar DeRozan, Sacramento Kings: He’s 1,418 factors away from 25,000.
— Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks: The perennial MVP candidate wants 1,498 factors to hit the 20,000 mark.
— Klay Thompson, Dallas Mavericks: He wants 19 3-pointers for two,500 in his profession.
Who’s No. 1? It at all times adjustments.
Within the Western Convention, good luck guessing which group will find yourself because the No. 1 seed within the playoffs.
That is unprecedented within the present playoff format: There have been seven completely different No. 1 seeds within the final seven seasons. Houston had that spot in 2018, Golden State in 2019, the Lakers in 2020, Utah in 2021, Phoenix in 2022, Denver in 2023 and Oklahoma Metropolis this previous season.
Westbrook 1 away from 200
Denver’s Russell Westbrook is one triple-double away from 200 in his regular-season profession. However to place how uncommon his triple-double document — he has 69 greater than new Nuggets teammate Nikola Jokic, the MVP in three of the final 4 seasons — is, contemplate these, properly, nuggets.
— He has greater than each different NBA group does besides the Lakers (211). The Nuggets have 198 for No. 2 on the checklist.
— Westbrook has extra triple-doubles than gamers with Charlotte, Orlando, Atlanta, New York, Memphis and Utah have posted mixed (190).
