In bid to step into postseason, Lakers receive a 'free' boost
The Lakers are in the thick of the Western Conference battle for the postseason. With six games remaining, Los Angeles is eighth, 1.5 games from rising to sixth or falling to 11th. Teams seeded seventh to 10th qualify for the play-in tournament.
In their bid for the postseason, the Lakers (38-38) -- who have won six of their past 10 games -- are getting a "free" boost, especially this month. Per StatMuse, Los Angeles has shot 428 more free throws than its opponents this season.
Los Angeles' huge free-throw differential is strange, especially for a team that ranks 19th in drives and seventh in points in the paint per game.
For the season, Lakers guard Austin Reaves is averaging 3.9 free throw attempts per game. That figure skyrocketed in March to 7.1.
For the season, Anthony Davis is averaging 7.9 attempts per game from the free-throw line but 9.3 in March. Almost every Laker has more free-throw attempts for the month.
Before Jan. 28, the Lakers averaged 25.5 free-throw attempts per game (fourth in the NBA). Los Angeles is first, at 28.8 attempts, ever since.
On Jan. 28, the Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics, 125-121, after referees missed a blatant foul on LeBron James that could have cost Los Angeles a win.
Why have the Lakers attempted so many more free throws since late January -- especially given that James missed 13 games from Feb. 26-March 26 with an injury?
How odd.
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