The Oklahoma City Thunder rattled off 57 wins a year ago, good enough for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference only lagging behind the 64 win Boston Celtics squad who went on to win the NBA title.

Fast forward to this offseason, the two are projected to once again be at the top of their respective conference with the Celtics running it back while the Thunder bolstered their squad by adding Isaiah Hartenstein to the roster while swapping Josh Giddey for Alex Caruso who better complements Oklahoma City’s core.

These are the biggest reasons most pundits – and Vegas – has the OKC Thunder as favorites out West. However, could they actually improve on their win total as they have each of the last two seasons, grabbing the best record in the NBA?

It should be expected that the Celtics are once again the best team in basketball, however, when looking at the raw win total of the regular season with Kristaps Porzingis sidelined for significate time out of the gate, it could put a dent in thair mark this season.

Boston should be able to coast out East, winning some games on autopilot, but in the race for the league’s top win total, perhaps Oklahoma City could sneak up on the Green and White despite playing in a much tougher conference.

Want to join the discussion? Like Thunder on SI on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.