The Lakers can’t hide from the wild disparity in their free throw numbers compared to the rest of the league.
Since the start of the 2022-23 season, the Lakers have shot over a thousand more free throws than their opponents.
In the 2023-24 season, the franchise has a league leading +420 free throw attempt differential. The Bucks rank second at +222.
On Sunday, the Pacers became the latest victim of the free throw disparity in their 150-145 loss to LA.
The Lakers attempted 43 free throws and made 38, while the Pacers had just 16 and made nine of those.
LA were called for 14 personal fouls to Indiana’s 31 and the losing coach Rick Carlisle was less than thrilled about it.
“Thought our guys really battled in this game, there were just certain things that were impossible to overcome,” Carlisle said. “The 27 free-throw differential is one, and the 17 foul differential is the other. And I’ll leave it at that.”
Carlisle joins the queue of disgruntled NBA coaches who think the Lakers have been given an unfair advantage during various games this season.
Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic was by far the most outspoken coach about it and received a $25,000 fine for his colorful rant.
Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton explained how much of an advantage the extra free throws become.
“When you shoot that many free throws, they control the pace,” Haliburton said. “We like to play up and down like we did in the first quarter. When the game gets stopped a lot and there’s a lot of free throws being shot, that’s really been the story of both games we’ve played. They dictate the pace because there are so many free throws being shot. We just have to do a better job of not fouling and playing through that.”
The Lakers are called for very few fouls on defense and have only allowed their opponents 1,291 total free throws this season – the second fewest in the league behind Boston.
LA also benefit from the advantage of having LeBron James and Anthony Davis getting physical on the floor, which can easily draw fouls from the opposition.