No team in the NBA gets to the free throw line more than the Los Angeles Lakers and the free throw differential between them and their opponents has been the source of a lot of discussion over the past couple of seasons. With an offense led by Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and LeBron James, all of whom are at their best when attacking the paint, it makes sense that the Lakers would live at the line.
In the team’s victory over the Brooklyn Nets the Lakers went to the line 42 times compared to just 15 for Brooklyn. And afterwards, head coach JJ Redick addressed the narrative that the Lakers get a favorable whistle that allows for them to get so many free throw attempts.
“You know, people say ‘Lakers shoot a lot of free throws,’ that’s how teams guard us,” Redick said after the win. “They foul on every possession. That’s another team that fouls every possession. And so you have to factor that in. You’re tired and cranky and you gotta play through stuff and I thought our guys they managed it. And then, from a field percentage standpoint we were over 50% for nearly the whole game we just didn’t get a lot of threes up and didn’t make a lot of threes. And then we made five of our last seven and that really opened things up for us.”
To Redick’s point, the Nets rank fourth in the league in fouls per game so that, combined with the Lakers constantly attacking the basket, would make for a large free throw discrepancy. Additionally, the Nets took 14 more 3-pointers than the Lakers, which would also lead to fewer fouls and free throw attempts.
Some may want to believe that the Lakers are getting these free throws because they’re the premier franchise with big stars like Doncic and James, but it far more due to their style of play. L.A.’s three creators are all downhill players who are excellent at creating contact and the team ranks 24th in 3-point attempts per game. Like Redick said, some teams just foul a lot and the Lakers are gonna take advantage of that every chance they get.
Lakers’ Austin Reaves discusses his approach to drawing fouls
Without a doubt Reaves is one of the best players in the NBA at drawing fouls, but the Lakers guard recently explained his mindset and how it is about more than just creating contact.
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