In spite of shooting a league-worst 47 percent from the free throw line in the 2018 NBA Playoffs, Houston Rockets center Clint Capela has recently managed to find newfound success from the charity stripe.
Prior to ever producing new career-high numbers in nearly every statistical category over the last three and a half seasons, Houston Rockets center Clint Capela was once regarded as the primary target for opposing coaches to send to the free throw line.
The 24-year-old — who shot just 17.5 percent from the charity stripe in his rookie season — was repeatedly sent to the foul line by Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr in Game 7 of the 2018 Western Conference Finals, missing a series of consecutive freebies at a time when his team needed each and every one to go down.
Now, Capela’s string of woes from inside the keyhole appears to be an artifact of past, as the man who missed four out of his last six shots from the line in last year’s playoff finale has made massive strides under the direct tutelage of Houston assistant coach John Lucas for the third consecutive season.
Clint Capela working on his free throws with John Lucas. #Rockets pic.twitter.com/CtJDvBCnSU
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) November 11, 2018
Capela, who came into the season as a career 48.2 percent shooter from the free throw line, is currently shooting a career-best 62.6 percent from the line in his fifth year with the Rockets.
"“I want to get to 70 [percent],” Capela told Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle when asked about his recent uptick in production from the foul line. “I want to get higher than that. I think I can go above [65 percent]. That’s the kind of confidence I have right now.”“I work every day on it. I’ve been working on it forever…I just want to keep improving.”"
Although it still remains to be seen whether or not Capela’s newfound fortune from the stripe is the actual byproduct of a future common theme or an anomaly, one could argue the Swiss Roll has officially discovered a consistent shooting method to help him turn the tide for good this time around.
Through six games played in the month of January, Capela has shot 78.4 percent from the free throw line for Houston. He’s shooting 74.1 percent from the line over the last 10 games as well. The 6’10”, 240-pound product recently put together an outing so grand against the defending world champs that it could force teams across the league to re-evaluate their Hack-A-Shaq strategy in future matchups against Clutch City’s rising star.
In a nationally-televised game that is regarded by most basketball fans as the game of the year to date, Capela shot a perfect 5-for-5 from the line,on the way to putting together a 29-point, 21-rebound performance in the Rockets’ 135-134 road win over the Warriors.
https://twitter.com/HoustonRockets/status/1081203607603564550
"“He’s playing at the level of an All-Star,” Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni told Feigen when asked about his big man’s overall improvement this season.“You take any big in the league and night after night he either dominates them or plays even with him. Rarely does he get outplayed. And he’s improved his game. His foul shooting, stamina, numbers have improved.”"
Yet despite making tremendous progress from the line, D’Antoni does not appear to be ready to let Capela extend his range any further, as the 67-year-old offensive mastermind appears to be more than satisfied with his latest strides.
"“I’m not young enough to wait until he shoots the 3,” D’Antoni jokingly said to reporters last week. “I’d kill him if he shot from the elbow.”"
Capela and the Rockets will seek to vie for their 14th win in the last 18 contests, as they get ready to take on Mike Conley Jr. and the Memphis Grizzlies Monday night.