As Lakers bemoan officiating, Warriors’ free-throw numbers tell a
different story
The Lakers seem to be the team frustrated with officiating, even though
they have more than double the free throw attempts as the Warriors.
>Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James (6) reacts to a foul against him
during their game against the Golden State Warriors in the third quarter
of Game 2 of the NBA basketball Western Conference semifinal playoff
series at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, May 4,
2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
By ALEX SIMON | asimon@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: May 6, 2023 at 5:00 a.m. | UPDATED: May 6, 2023 at 4:14 p.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/05/06/as-lakers-bemoan-officiating-warriors-free-throw-numbers-tell-a-different-story/

The free-throw disparity in the first two games between the Warriors and
the Lakers is going just as expected, with the Lakers having more than
double the attempts at the charity stripe than the Warriors.

But you’d never know it, based on the feelings and comments after
Thursday night.

It’s the Lakers who have been expressing their frustration with the
officiating, despite the Warriors being called for 20 more fouls (47 to
the Lakers’ 27) and Los Angeles shooting 46 free throws compared to
Golden State’s 22.

Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell told the media, “I’m not trying to go
viral tonight,” when asked about the officiating by The Athletic after
the game, and Lakers coach Darvin Ham made it clear that he wasn’t
happy, though he didn’t want to directly address it.

“I have zero thoughts,” Ham said. “I get paid to coach. I’m trying to
coach my ass off for my team. Anything officials related, that’s on the
league to look at. Try to be as fair and consistent as possible for both
teams.”

LeBron James also was visibly frustrated, earning a technical foul late
in the third quarter and seemingly seeking a second technical and an
ejection in the fourth, when he complained about a foul call and lobbied
Ham to (unsuccessfully) challenge the decision.

Perhaps the Lakers weren’t used to things being as even as they were in
Game 2. Golden State was still whistled for more fouls (23) than Los
Angeles (15), but the Warriors only shot one fewer free throw, 16 to
LA’s 17.

That pales in comparison to Game 1, when the Warriors were called for
twice as many fouls (24) as the Lakers (12) and Los Angeles shot 29 free
throws to Golden State’s six.

In some ways, this was entirely predictable. Pretty much every regular
season stat that portends to fouls called and free throws skewed heavily
to the Lakers and against the Warriors:

Regular season ranking (out of 30 NBA teams)
-Fouls called on them: LAL fewest, GSW third-most
-Fouls called on opponents: LAL 2nd-most, GSW fewest
-FT attempts: LAL most, GSW fewest
-Opponent FT attempts: LAL fewest, GSW 6th-most

So perhaps the Lakers saw Game 2’s tight free-throw numbers and smaller
margin of fouls and figured something must be off.

But could the bigger difference be attributed to how the Lakers played
offensively?

In Game 1, the Lakers took 25 3-pointers out of their 92 shots and
grabbed 13 offensive rebounds. So many shots inside and added second
chances surely made it easier to get to the foul line so many times.

In Game 2? Their 3-point shots increased to 34 and the offensive
rebounds dropped to nine. It’s harder to draw fouls on shots farther
away from the basket and also grab offensive boards.

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Perhaps the most important number is this: in Game 1, the Lakers took 16
shots inside the restricted area — a number that doesn’t include any
missed shots where they were fouled, either. In Game 2? That number was
cut in half, with only eight shots in the restricted area.

Those numbers also play right into how a smaller Warriors lineup wants
to get out, run and attack the Lakers, who tend to have both James and
Anthony Davis on the floor together.

We didn’t see that in Game 1, when Golden State fired a whopping 53
shots from 3-point range in Game 1. But the Warriors cut that down to 42
in Game 2, and while they made the same number of 3-pointers in each
game (21), their 2-point makes increased from 22 in Game 1 to 27 in Game 2.

They doubled their made free throws, too, from five to 10.

Maybe the Lakers have something to complain about after all.

--
Alex Simon | Sports Digital Strategist/Editor
Alex Simon is a sports digital strategist and editor for Bay Area News
Group. He’s been in journalism for years as an editor, reporter and
adjunct professor. Alex is a 2017 graduate of Elon University with a BA
in journalism and a 2019 graduate of Arizona State University with a MA
in journalism. He enjoys weekend adventures and loves In-N-Out Burger a
bit too much.Alex Simon is a sports digital strategist and editor for
Bay Area News Group. He’s been in journalism for years as an editor,
reporter and adjunct professor. Alex is a 2017 graduate of Elon
University with a BA in journalism and a 2019 graduate of Arizona State
University with a MA in journalism. He enjoys weekend adventures and
loves In-N-Out Burger a bit too much.