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The Greatest Free-Throw Shooting Performances In NBA History

By Mark Vandeusen

Mar 27, 2015; New York, NY, USA; Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4) shoots a free throw during the third quarter against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Boston Celtics won 96-92. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 27, 2015; New York, NY, USA; Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4) shoots a free throw during the third quarter against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Boston Celtics won 96-92. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports /
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On Wednesday night in Detroit, the Boston Celtics beat the Pistons 113-103.  Detroit made nine more field goals than Boston did (45-36), and out-shot the Celtics from the floor 53.6 percent to 45 percent.  The Pistons also grabbed four more rebounds (41-37) and dished out nine more assists (29-20).

So why then, did Detroit lose by 10?

Because Boston was 33-for-34 at the free-throw line.  By comparison, the Pistons went 6-for-10.  Andre Drummond (0-for-3) missed two more foul shots than the Celtics did, despite taking 31 fewer attempts.

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Just how rare was Boston’s 97.1-percent performance from the line?

The Golden State Warriors made 39 free throws on April 4, but it took them 54 attempts (.722) to do it.  A week before that, the Celtics knocked down 34-of-43 (.791) in a win over the New York Knicks.  Connecting on that many freebies in a game is not very unusual, but to do it at the percentage Boston did against Detroit is extremely uncommon.

The last time a team hit 33 or more free-throws while missing just once was on Dec. 22, 2013, when the Oklahoma City Thunder did it against the Toronto Raptors.  It’s a feat that had only happened 10 previous times in the last 22 years.

Basketball-Reference keeps track as far back as 1963-64.  Since then, there are just 35 such occasions of a club hitting at least 33 free throws in a game at a 97 percent clip or better.

In that sense, the Celtics foul-line showing Wednesday might qualify among the top 35 of all time.  However, there are any number of games in which a team went perfect at the charity stripe, but attempted fewer than 33 shots.

In this season alone, there are two instances of clubs going 26-for-26: The Minnesota Timberwolves did it on Jan. 10 against the San Antonio Spurs, and the Spurs pulled it off themselves on Dec. 20 vs. the Dallas Mavericks.

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    • Strangely enough, of the top 16 free-throw games since 1990, half of them were recorded by a single team twice in the same year:

    2013 Thunder: In addition to a 35-for-36 effort on Dec. 22, they also went 33 of 34 on Feb. 14.

    2009 Sacramento Kings: 35-for-36 on Jan. 14, and 33-for-34 just 12 days earlier on Jan. 2.

    1991 Warriors: A perfect 33 of 33 on April 11, and a 35-for-36 outing only eight days prior on April 3.

    1990 Celtics: Boston posted two of the greatest free-throw shooting games of all time less than a month apart.  On March 18 the Celtics went 33-for-33, and on April 12 they made all 35 of their attempts.  Larry Bird and Kevin McHale each went 10-for-10 that day, while the late Reggie Lewis was 6-for-6.

    Boston’s 35-for-35 team effort qualifies among the top three greatest foul-shooting games ever.  The other two?

    On Dec. 22, 2000, the Indiana Pacers went 40-for-41, but still lost to the Utah Jazz 109-101.  Jalen Rose led the way at 15-for-15, while Reggie Miller chipped in a 10-for-10 as well.  Jermaine O’Neal (4-for-5) had the only miss.

    The undisputed best NBA free-throw performance on record took place on Dec. 7, 1982.  The Jazz fell to the Portland Trail Blazers 137-121, but in the process made 39-of-39 foul shots.  Danny Schayes was 14-for-14 and Adrian Dantley went 12-for-12.  It comes as no surprise that this game included Dantley, arguably the most prolific free-throw shooter of all time.

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