The Los Angeles Lakers have had a contentious season when it comes to referee decisions. While they’ve had their fair share of results go against them, there’s a worrying trend emerging that fans have caught onto.
The Lakers have the most free throw attempts of any team in the NBA this season. They also concede very few shots at the line, giving the team a free-throw differential of 387. For context, the second team in free throw differential is the Miami Heat with 184.
The Lakers have a drive-heavy offense with multiple players looking to score at the rim, which does send them to the line more often. But to have double the free throw differential of the second-highest team in the league is extremely odd. The Heat have an even heavier focus on inside finishing yet are outpaced by the Lakers in free throws received by a fair amount.
The Free Throw Leaders On The Lakers
The Lakers as a squad convert 77.8% of all their opportunities from the line. Anthony Davis is the most proficient in terms of getting to the line, averaging 7.8 attempts per game from the line. He’s a monster inside presence and often draws contact while finishing around the basket.
LeBron James hasn’t played in a while but goes to the line 6.3 times each game. The Lakers’ free throw stats are already disproportionate to the rest of the league and LeBron still didn’t get calls consistently this season. Even casual fans have seen LeBron not have the best luck in terms of getting to the line, so these stats may have looked even worse if James was getting to the line more often.
The reason everyone is aware of the Lakers’ incredible free throw numbers is because of the emergence of Austin Reaves. Reaves has averaged almost 13.3 free throw attempts in the last 4 games, slowly increasing his season average to 4 free throws a game.
Dennis Schroder and D’Angelo Russell round out the five players that go to the line most often for LA this season. Their propensity to go to the line may save their season, provided they make the most of their chances.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
