Los Angeles Lakers: 3 trends that will land the team on Santa’s naughty list
By Jason Elbaum
1. Free throw shooting has been horrendous, and that might be an understatement
As mentioned before, the young Lakers lack players that can consistently knock down shots, and this has carried over to the free throw line this season. The Lakers are worst in the league at shooting free throws at 69.4 percent — the only team in the NBA below 70 percent.
The Lakers have zero players shooting over 80 percent and Jordan Clarkson leads the team by shooting 76.8 percent from the line. The team struggles mostly due to the fact that key players Brandon Ingram, Julius Randle, Lonzo Ball and Larry Nance Jr. are all shooting 67 percent or worse from the line, which is unacceptable for players who play that many minutes.
It becomes even more frustrating for Lakers fans when you see that the team is attempting the sixth-most free throws of any team in the league and is still converting at a league-worst rate. The team is creating opportunities to get easy points from the line and not capitalizing, which has to drive head coach Luke Walton crazy.
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Free throw shooting is a facet of basketball that is almost entirely controlled by the mental demeanor of the player, and the Lakers clearly lack the focus to take advantage of these opportunities. Even though the team is young, there is really no excuse for so many players to be struggling with such an important aspect of the game.