The Los Angeles Lakers returned home from a six-game road trip, and found themselves in a tight game against the tanking Brooklyn Nets before ultimately pulling away for the 116-99 win. During their game, the Lakers shot 42 free-throws compared to the Nets 15 attempts. Of course, that brings out the conspiracy theorists on social media, but it’s not something that’s all that surprising, according to Lakers head coach JJ Redick.
Following the Lakers’ win against the Nets, JJ Redick offered an explanation as to why the team seems to shoot so many free-throws during games.
“People say the Lakers shoot a lot of free-throws, that’s how teams guard us,” Redick said. “They foul on every possession, and that’s another team that fouls on every possession. You got to factor that in. You’re tired and cranky and you got to play through stuff.”
Opponents having issue with the Lakers’ free-throw shooting against them is nothing new.
But on the season, the Lakers are averaging around 27 free-throw attempts per game, 26.9 to be exact. That’s good enough for second in the NBA, just behind the league-leading Orlando Magic who are right at 27.0. The Detroit Pistons and Denver Nuggets are at 26.4 and 26.3 attempts, respectively. After that, there are eight teams taking between 25 and 26 attempts.
So when it comes to the league average, it doesn’t appear that the Lakers are shooting some astronomically large attempts from the line compared to other teams. One factor in that stat is Lakers star Luka Doncic who is averaging a league-leading 10.1 attempts from the free-throw line.
And as Redick mentioned, the Nets are a team that foul a lot. They are averaging 21.3 fouls per game, with Indiana Pacers for fourth in the league, just behind the Detroit Pistons (22.1), Utah Jazz (21.6) and Washington Wizards (21.5). The Nets are also top-five in the league in opponent free-throw attempts at 24.9.
