The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a 123-113 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night, and a big talking point from the contest was free throws. The Lakers only shot eight of them in the game, which was quite surprising, and former NBA big man Andrew Bogut had a hilarious reaction to it.
“The NBA has suspended the referees effective immediately.”
https://twitter.com/andrewbogut/status/1761899535109165190
Bogut actually played for the Lakers in the 2017-18 season but doesn’t have a lot of love for his former team. In 24 games that season, he averaged 1.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 0.6 assists, and 0.5 blocks, after which he was waived.
The Australian wasn’t too happy about being released, as he claimed at the time that the Lakers went against their word. So, it wasn’t a surprise to see the 39-year-old make a statement like that. Bogut even predicted before this season that the Lakers would finish at 10th in the Western Conference.
Getting back to the topic at hand, as StatMuse stated, it was the fewest attempts in a game for the Lakers since 2021. The likes of Anthony Davis and Austin Reaves are great at drawing fouls, which means a lot more often than not, the Lakers have a significant advantage when it comes to free throw attempts in a game. That wasn’t the case here, as the Suns shot 19 free throws and made 18 of them while the Lakers made four out of eight.
There has been a lot of talk about the Lakers and free throws for quite some time now, as they have had the best free throw differential in the league since last season. While the focus is often on them getting to the line, a big reason why they have that advantage is that their opponents don’t get a lot of free throws.
You might be surprised to know that the Lakers’ average of 24.3 free throw attempts per game this season only ranks sixth in the NBA. They are not exactly miles ahead of everyone else, but they only allow their opponents 18.9 free throws per game, which is tied for the best mark in the league this season with the Boston Celtics.
LeBron James Blasted The Narrative That All The Lakers Do Is Shoot Free Throws
After the loss to the Suns, LeBron James blasted the narratives around the Lakers’ free-throw shooting.
“That’s who we are. A lot of coaches and teams say ‘All the Lakers do is get to the free-throw line.’ That’s the narrative out there… I mean we have attackers, that’s what we do. We shoot the ball from the perimeter but we’re not shooting 40-50 3’s a game, we’re not that team and we don’t have the luxury of being that team… I know I was hit a couple of times in the paint but it wasn’t called.”
LeBron ended up getting half of the Lakers’ eight attempts on the night, but he went just 1-4 from the line. The 39-year-old had a great game apart from that, as he had 28 points, 7 rebounds, 12 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block, but it wasn’t enough to get the win against the Suns.
With the loss, the Lakers dropped to 31-28 on the season, and a return to winning ways next time out will be a bit difficult as they face the Los Angeles Clippers.
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