The Los Angeles Lakers are struggling at the foul line and it is holding the team back.
Earlier this week, the Los Angeles Lakers fell in overtime to the Golden State Warriors, 116-114. The night was already very exciting with Kobe Bryant’s two jerseys being retired, and the excitement was increased with the Lakers competing very well with a Stephen Curry and Draymond Green-less Warriors.
The game ended in the closing moments with Kevin Durant hitting a game-winning shot in overtime. However, the Lakers could have ended up on the winning side if they shot better from the free throw line, where they went 22-for-35 (62.9%).
This is nothing new for the Lakers. They are currently ranked last in the NBA in free throw percentage with 69.9 percent.
Free throws are important down the stretch and according to the game recap on the NBA’s website, the Lakers shot 11-for-16 from the charity stripe in the 4th quarter and OT. That’s a huge number of attempts, and if the other team is going to give you those down the stretch, you have to bury them.
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Individual Regression
To figure out who is contributing to their overall bad free throw shooting, you should look at who’s taking the most attempts. Three of the top four in attempts have regressed slightly if not tremendously from their previous years.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Brook Lopez and Julius Randle have regressed, while Brandon Ingram has improved. KCP’s drop is very noticeable, going from 83.2 percent last season with the Detroit Pistons to 73.9 percent this season. (all stats from NBA.com)
Lakers’ Other Problems to Address
The Lakers are now 10-18 and they have many problems they need to address moving forward. Two of the three major problems are 3-point shooting and turnovers.
The Lakers are ranked 23rd in the league in 3-point shooting and 27th in the league in turnovers. 3-point shooting will have to be addressed and improved in the offseason through development and free agency. Turnovers, on the other hand, are going to happen as this very young team weaves its way through the vicious Western conference.
With that being said, the team can and should address the free throw problem now as it is the easiest of the three major problems to fix. Repetition and concentration go a long way in free throw improvement.
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Hopefully, they will figure out the free throw problem soon, as the team can’t continue to lose close games like this. If they don’t, they might continue to see the gap between them and the 8th seed grow.