Even after a terrible first quarter last night, the Detroit Pistons still dominated most of the stats in their loss to the Lakers, but it didn’t matter because they couldn’t make a free throw.
LA shot 33 free throws, while the Pistons took just 20, which was the difference in what ended up being a close game. Even with that disparity, Detroit still could have won the game if they had actually made the free throws they did get, as they hit just 13-of-20 for 65 percent as a team.
They left seven free points at the line in a five-point game, which is something that has happened far too often over the last several years.
Detroit has long been a bad free-throw shooting team, but this year, they aren’t even getting to the line for the bricks.
Pistons are shooting and making fewer free throws this season
The Pistons were a paint dominant team last year, so it makes sense that they are shooting fewer free throws as they try to work more 3-point shots into the offense.
But the drop off has been huge, as Detroit was 4th in free-throw attempts per game last season and has dipped all the way to 23rd, shooting more than three fewer per contest than they did last year.
And as usual, the Pistons could construct a new Palace out of the bricks, as they are hitting just 74 percent as a team, which is good for 24th in the NBA, right around where they were last season.
They are 26th in free-throw makes per game this year after being 6th in that category last year as a team that lived in the paint.
Detroit’s new-look approach has meant fewer attempts, but a big part of it is the absence of Jalen Duren, as he shot over six free throws per game last season and hit them at a decent rate for a center.
Getting Duren back will help the Pistons get back to the line.
But they still have to make them, and that’s not been a given with this roster, as Detroit currently has some of the worst free-throw shooters in the league.
We know Ausar Thompson is bad, but he’s actually improved this season to 67 percent, which is still awful, but he’s not even the worst on the team, which is scary.
That honor goes to John Collins, who is shooting just 55 percent on the season. He is a 79 percent free-throw shooter for his career, so this number will return to the norm at some point, but the discouraging part is that he’s only getting one attempt per game so far, which is the lowest of his career.
Kevin Huerter (57 percent) and Paul Reed (64) percent have also been bad, which doesn’t make much sense, as Reed is almost shooting the same percentage from 3-point range (62.5%) and Huerter is hitting 40 percent of his long balls.
Even with Duncan Robinson shooting the most free throws of his career, the Pistons are still down in attempts and percentage, which just cost them a winnable game against the Luka-less Lakers.
Getting Jalen Duren back will help, and eventually some of these guys will return to their norms, but it’s a number to watch, especially in close games.
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