The Los Angeles Lakers have come under fire for getting too many free throws, as compared to the teams they have faced throughout the season. As a result, the franchise’s fanbase have to the defense of the LeBron James-led squad.
This trend was last seen in a thrilling 150-145 win by Los Angeles over the Indiana Pacers. In that contest, Anthony Davis came up big by dropping 36 points and 16 rebounds. Both LeBron James and Spencer Dinwiddie had 26 points while Austin Reaves contributed 25 points of his own.
All in all, the Lakers were given 43 free throw attempts and they connected 38 of them. This translates to a 88 percent success rate from the foul line.
On the other hand, the Pacers were only given 16 chances to score from the charity stripe and connected only nine of them. Coupled with a poor performance from All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton, who only tallied 12 points on 38 percent shooting from the field, and Indiana faltered down the stretch to take the loss against the Lakers.
Los Angeles Lakers Fanbase Defend LeBron James’s Team Over Huge Free Throw Disparity Despite Critics’ Rigging Claims
After the game, StatMuse came out with a post that highlighted the free throw disparity between the two teams. According to the infographic, the Lakers have taken a far lead over other teams this season.
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“Free throws attempted tonight:
43 — Lakers 16 — Pacers
The Lakers have a +420 FTA differential this season. The 2nd-place Bucks are at +222,” StatMuse tweeted.
Naturally, this post had its fair share of critics and fans defending the Purple and Gold. Andy Bailey said that last season’s differential isn’t different from how the Lakers are performing this year and encouraged everyone to check it.
“we play real basketball, we are not chucking threes. Defense is anchored by the best defender of this generation btw. now yall can keep crying,” ADHD posted.
On the other side of the fence, several fans have called out Los Angeles for this questionable stat. Drew even alleged that the Lakers are getting their games rigged by the referees when the X user replied on StatMuse’s post. Latin Legacy, also replying to the same post, pointed out an important detail by saying that the gap is even bigger when only home court is factored and alleged that LA gets exposed when they are on the road.
Whether this stat may lead to claims of rigging or not remains to be seen in the coming weeks. Nevertheless, James and the Lakers will have to focus on getting a playoff spot first and winning their remaining games before the regular season ends.
