The Golden State Warriors lost another heartbreaker on Saturday night, falling 145-144 to the Los Angeles Lakers in an instant double-overtime classic. The defeat marked the second time in three nights Golden State went to overtime at Chase Center against a California rival, coming on the feels of Thursday's 134-133 loss to the Sacramento Kings.
After the game, Golden State's central focus wasn't lamenting one more squandered opportunity for victory in a season full of them. The Warriors instead seemed most concerned by a massive foul discrepancy that resulted in the Lakers taking 43 free throws to their 16, a game-changing dynamic at which Steve Kerr pointedly hinted in his initial comments on the postgame podium.
“Give them credit, give LeBron credit,” he said. “He made the move at the end to draw a foul and shot their 42nd and 43rd free throws of the game and knocked them down, so give him credit.”
Taking note of Kerr's sardonic tone, Anthony Slater of The Athletic followed up about the free throw differential, eliciting an even more thinly veiled timbre from the Warriors' longtime coach.
“I might comment on the free throws that they shot but my mom is here right now and I want to be on my best behavior,” Kerr said. “So I'm not going to comment on the 43 free throws to our 16, I'm not gonna comment on Steph shooting three free throws in 43 minutes. I'm not gonna comment on that.”
Why Warriors' free throw criticisms ring hollow
Los Angeles outscored Golden State by 27 points at the free throw line. James won the game on a pair of freebies with 1.2 seconds left, too, after the Dubs' poor execution left him matched up with rookie Brandin Podziemski, affording the four-time champion a lane to the rim as other defenders provided tepid help.
No one is arguing that Curry and Golden State could've gotten to the line a few more times on Saturday, but James, Anthony Davis and the Lakers could've as well. Is it really all that surprising the purple-and-gold more than doubled-up the Warriors' in free throw attempts given these teams' respective styles?
Golden State launched a whopping 58 three-pointers on Saturday compared to Los Angeles' 27. The teams actually took roughly the same amount of shots from the paint and restricted area, but major personnel and stylistic differences suggest those field goal attempts should yield more foul calls and free throws for the Lakers than the Warriors.
James is a force of nature on the drive unlike any other the game has ever seen, only amping up his physicality further as he's lost degrees of lateral quickness and initial burst. Golden State certainly doesn't have an interior offensive presence like Anthony Davis, but his impact when it comes to free throws looms even larger on the other end, where the Warriors have long been spooked into floaters, scoops and kick-outs due to his rim-protecting prowess.
Los Angeles is one of the most physical teams in the league offensively. The same can't be said for Golden State, especially when comparing the playing profiles of Curry and Klay Thompson to those of James and Davis, the teams' primary shot-creators. Jonathan Kuminga's rise has given the Dubs a much-needed sense of that on-the-move brutishness, but he clearly sought out contact himself several times on Saturday, hoping to dupe the officials into blowing their whistle—just like Curry.
Did similar gamesmanship from Austin Reaves and D'Angelo Russell, especially, prove more successful? No doubt. You could definitely take several of the Lakers' free throws away, potentially making all the difference in a wild back-and-forth game ultimately decided by a single point.
But Kerr, understandably, didn't even allow for realities of the drastically disparate offensive approaches from Los Angles and Golden State while pointing out their gulf in free throws attempts. He knows as well anyone why the Lakers draw more fouls than the Warriors in general, and to an even greater extent when these teams go head-to-head.
A simple acknowledgement of those facts would've gone a long way toward legitimizing Golden State's critiques. As is, they're just fodder for more frustration and reflection amid the Warriors' ever tumultuous, disappointing 2023-24 season.
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