The 2025-26 NBA regular season is nearly here, with just about a week until games start to impact the playoff race. In preparation for the year ahead, the Sportscasting crew teamed up to highlight one key stat for every team that could have significant implications for their success or lack thereof this year. Up next is the Atlantic Division.
Let’s get to it.
Read our one key stat for teams in other Divisions: Central
Boston Celtics: 28.5
The Boston Celtics appear primed for their first season outside of the top 15 in defensive efficiency since 2014 and their first outside of the top five since 2021. Losing Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet in one offseason to injury, trade or free agency will have that effect.
In 2024-25, opposing offenses attempted 28.5 percent of their shots against Boston at the basket, the fourth-lowest number of any defense. Denying paint entry is a hallmark of this era of Celtics defense; they’ve kept offenses to a 29 percent rim frequency or lower each of the last four seasons. Holiday, Tatum and Horford keep opponents on the perimeter while Porzingis and Kornet clean up inside if they allow a leak.
But the 2025-26 front-court, comprised of Neemias Queta, Xavier Tillman, Chris Boucher and Luka Garza, probably can’t maintain that streak. Derrick White and Jaylen Brown will incur even more stress keeping players in front of them. Anfernee Simons, whom Boston traded Holiday for, has a case as the league’s worst established guard defender.
I’d like to provide solutions for these preseason problems when possible but there isn’t much to do with the state of Boston’s roster as Tatum recovers from his Achilles injury. Lean on what should still be a potent offense and run teams out of the gym en route to the seventh seed, I suppose? -Ben Pfeifer
Brooklyn Nets: 73.94
“Moreyball rate” refers to the rate of shots taken either at the rim or behind the 3-point line, named for current Philadelphia 76ers general manager and renowned data fiend Daryl Morey. Attempts at the rim and 3-pointers are, generally speaking, the most valuable shots in basketball. Thus, many NBA defenses now choose which of these areas they’d like to take away.
In year one of the Jordi Fernández regime, the Brooklyn Nets had a 73.94 percent Moreyball rate on offense, good for sixth in the NBA. Despite a considerable talent disadvantage, particularly following a December trade of Dennis Schröder, Fernández’s Nets were able to create the right looks.
There’s reason for skepticism. Of the five teams that finished above them in Moreyball rate, three were below-average offenses and the Nets were even worse than that. Their shot quality on paper is less impressive when you look at the names taking many of the shots; defenses weren’t going all-out to prevent Keon Johnson from hoisting a three. Conversely, midrange extraordinaire and confirmed bucket-getter Cam Thomas appeared in just 25 games for Brooklyn last season but their offensive rating was eight points higher during his minutes.
And yet, the Nets’ offense looked far more competent than many expected at (non-tanking) times last season. More impressive than their sky-high 3-point rate was the fact they shot the 13th-most rim attempts in the NBA, despite not rostering a single above-average driver following Schröder’s departure.
Now, they’ve added five first-round picks, a huge draft class whose collective defining trait is passing the rock. Through the preseason, they’ve leaned further into the offensive concepts Fernández brought to the squad last year, initiating plenty of offense through their bigs at the top of the key and cutting/re-spacing around high pick-and-roll. Brooklyn won’t be a good offense this season but it might be building the skeleton of a great one. -Lucas Kaplan
New York Knicks: 117.1
The New York Knicks are poised to be a stellar offensive team once again this season. New York’s fifth-ranked offense from last season stands to only improve under new head coach Mike Brown’s guidance. Brown should, in theory, only amplify an area Jalen Brunson and Karl Anthony-Towns already dominate while empowering OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges to do more on that end. The Knicks should also find more solutions against switch-heavy defenses as long as there’s a willingness to buy into Brown’s system.
With that in mind, they have a championship-level ceiling. But to reach that, they must find a way to win on defense, especially when their two best players, Towns and Brunson, are on the floor. While the Knicks finished 13th in defensive rating in 2024-2025, they allowed 117.1 points per 100 possessions during the 1,464 minutes Brunson and Towns shared the court. That would rank 25th in defensive efficiency across an entire season.
How the Knicks work to improve that number will dictate just how far they can go in the postseason, whether that means insulating Towns by putting another big man (Mitchell Robinson) next to him or having Brunson share the floor with another stout point-of-attack defender (Miles McBride) more frequently to try and stifle teams on the perimeter. Ultimately, there are numerous defensive questions for this team, particularly when it boasts a bench including Josh Hart, Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele as primary pieces.
But the degree to which Brown and the Knicks can paper over Brunson and Towns’s defensive ineptitude will make or break how far this team goes. -Es Baraheni
Philadelphia 76ers: 37
In 2024-25, a career-low 37 percent of Tyrese Maxey’s field goals came via assists. That mark comfortably dipped past his previous career-low of 43 percent in 2023-24. Over the last two years, he’s posted a true shooting percentage of 56.8 — well below the 59.9 percent true shooting he recorded between 2021-22 and 2022-23, when his assisted makes rate sat north of 52 percent.
These trends aren’t indicative of a sudden decline or ball-dominant tendencies from Maxey. Rather, they’re a synopsis of the decaying team environment around him. James Harden departed, which pivoted Maxey from secondary creator and off-ball wunderkind to lead decision-maker on the perimeter. More importantly, Joel Embiid has played only 58 combined games since the start of 2023-24 while Paul George played just 41 during his first year as a Sixer in 2024-25.
These injuries, absences and roster makeovers have left Maxey to carry an oversized burden as Philadelphia’s lone shot creator, which has hampered his efficiency and altered his impact, even if the box-score numbers continue to pop. The 24-year-old is a tremendous player but not one ideally suited for primary initiator duties, despite his improvements as an interior operator.
Beyond Maxey himself, Embiid’s injuries have also left the Sixers at a major talent disadvantage and with an identity crisis, missing their MVP centerpiece through which everything flows. Maxey and the Philadelphia offense are best served running pick-and-rolls and dribble handoffs with Embiid, acting as a complementary option and attacking closeouts around the big fella’s imposing hub.
Can the Sixers rediscover this identity in 2025-26? Will Maxey enjoy some reprieve and be a vital cog in an excellent offense rather than the catalyst of a shorthanded, underwhelming one? Accomplishing all of that requires a significant uptick in the 37 percent attached to Maxey’s stat line last year. -Jackson Frank
Toronto Raptors: 2.85
Modern NBA offenses aren’t a monolith but units on the cutting edge tend to zip the ball around the court while sprinkling in off-ball screens and movement. Teams like the Golden State Warriors, Indiana Pacers and Cleveland Cavaliers share the rock, move without the ball and find efficient shots in their own creative ways. Head coach Darko Rajakovic’s Toronto Raptors also fit here. In 2024-25, they logged the fourth-shortest average touch time (2.85 seconds) of any team.
Despite some principles resembling top teams, the Raptors were a poor offense last year, ranking 25th in overall and half-court offensive efficiency. The other shortest touch time offenses (Indiana, Golden State, Chicago, Atlanta) all easily outpaced Toronto in efficiency. Without traditional perimeter creation, the Raptors relied on front-court hub initiation, off-ball screens and east-west passing to open downhill creases.
They executed this intention, ranking second in the league in rim frequency (36.2 percent) but a dire lack of play-finishing talent meant the Raptors were the second-least efficient rim finishing team (62.4 percent) in the NBA. Partly due to the strengths of their best player, Scottie Barnes, the Raptors rarely took jumpers between the wings, constantly pressuring the basket and spraying out to the corners to shoot or reset movement.
Last season, Immanuel Quickley played in 33 games while Brandon Ingram didn’t play any after joining the team at the deadline. Toronto’s two best offensive players back on the court could mean more pick-and-rolls and above-the-break threes than before. Both players allow the Raptors to break from their tendencies but also would benefit from horizontal movement and off-ball screens to create.
Toronto’s defense ticked up late in the season and looks the part of a top-10 unit, especially after drafting Collin-Murray-Boyles in the lottery. But for the Raptors to leap into true playoff contention, offensive theory must turn into reality this season. -Ben Pfeifer
