The Golden State Warriors only took 16 free throws during their double-overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday (Jan. 27.) The Purple and Gold had 46 attempts from the charity stripe. Of course, such a large disparity significantly impacted the outcome of the game.
When speaking to the media as part of his postgame press conference, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr questioned how there was such a difference in the team’s free-throw numbers. This isn’t the first time the Lakers have been questioned for racking up a significantly larger free-throw amount than their opponents. Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic went viral earlier this month for a similar reason.
“I might comment on the free throws that they shot, but my mom is there right now, and I want to be on my best behavior,” Kerr said. “So, I’m not gonna comment on the 43 free-throws to our 16. I’m not gonna comment on Steph shooting three free-throws in 43 minutes. I’m not going to comment on that.”
The Lakers are a physical team. They play a brutish form of interior basketball and know how to draw contact on shot attempts. However, Kerr was likely frustrated at the lack of parity in his team getting to the line throughout the game.
"I might comment on the free throws that they shot, but my mom is here right now and I want to be on my best behavior."
Steve Kerr on the Lakers shooting 27 more free throws than the Warriors 😅 pic.twitter.com/qbTidlT2Uj
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) January 28, 2024
Following the Warriors loss, they are now three games behind the Utah Jazz, who sit 10th in the Western Conference. Golden State will need to start turning their season around in the near future if they want to salvage their chances of being a playoff team.