The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers at home by a score of 101-95 on Sunday. A terrible loss, indeed. Here's the thing, though: the Lakers missed 11 free throws in the loss, going 16-of-27 from the charity stripe.
So, you can say that foul shots cost Los Angeles the game, and as a result, the players were working on free throws in practice on Monday:
After last night's loss to the #Cavs, the #Lakers are shooting an ugly 68.3% from the free-throw line as a team. Clearly an emphasis at practice today and that it should be considering it has been a problem all season long.
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) January 14, 2019
The worst part is that this is nothing new for the Lakers, as they have been struggling from the free-throw line all season long:
Free-throw shooting for the #Lakers through 44 games
Lonzo: 42%
Ingram: 62%
Rondo: 62%
Chandler: 65%
McGee: 66%
LeBron: 68%
Hart: 69%
Beasley: 71%
Kuzma: 76%
KCP: 89%'
Zubac: 89%Team: 68.3%
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) January 14, 2019
Outside of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ivica Zubac (who has only taken 28 free throws all year), the Lakers' regulars are all shaky from the free-throw line.
Even their guards are terrible, as Lonzo Ball has been atrocious, Rajon Rondo has been bad like usual and Josh Hart is shooting under 70 percent.
Los Angeles ranks dead last in the league in free-throw percentage, and that is absolutely inexcusable for a team that has aspirations of making a playoff run.
Right now, the Lakers are hanging on to the eighth seed for dear life. With LeBron James still sidelined, Los Angeles may find itself on the outside of the Western Conference playoff picture sooner rather than later.
So many games come down to the final minute, and that's when you look back and see how you did from the free-throw line. This was a loss that could end up haunting the Lakers later in the season, and they have their shoddy free-throw shooting to blame.
Follow Us
Subscribe