6. Embarrassing free throw shooting
There are a few instances this season where the Lakers’ free throw shooting has let them down. Multiple losses that have occurred that could have easily resulted in wins had Los Angeles been able to knock down some free throws. That happened again on this road trip.
The free throw shooting by the Lakers this road trip was utterly embarrassing. The best performance they had in the four games was a 66.7 percent performance against the Hornets. Not surprisingly, that was the only game that the Lakers won on the trip.
For the trip as a whole, the Lakers shot 55 out of 92 from the charity stripe, which equals out to an ugly 59.8 percent. Against the Rockets, the Lakers nearly shot better from the field, 53.8 percent, than they did from the foul line, 55.6 percent.
For the season, the Lakers are shooting 69.2 percent from the foul line. That is on pace for the worst free throw shooting percentage by a team ever, as a team has never shot under 70 percent collectively for a season. Right now, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Kuzma are the only players on the team shooting over 70 percent who attempt multiple free throws per game.