Pacers coach Rick Carlisle says it’s ‘impossible’ to beat the Lakers against free throw disparity

This past Sunday evening, the Lakers and Pacers produced one of the most exciting games of the campaign, as the purple and gold finally came out on top with a 150-145 victory. The win proved to be huge for the Los Angeles team, as they separated themselves further from the Warriors, who are right behind them in the Western Conference’s 10th spot.

Nevertheless, the exciting matchup which ended in a 295-point contest, was unfair according to Indiana coach Rick Carlisle, who couldn’t help but mention the free throw disparity throughout the game. The tactician went all the way to say that it was “impossible to overcome” their rivals against the referees’ favouritism.

“Thought our guys really battled in this game, there were just certain things that were impossible to overcome,” he expressed postgame. “The 27 free-throw differential is one, and the 17 foul differential is the other. And I’ll leave it at that.”

Rick Carlisle on the loss to the Lakers: "There were certain things that were impossible to overcome…The 27 free throw differential is one and the 17 foul differential is the other. And I'll leave it at that." pic.twitter.com/Pbbsav25ZY

— Bally Sports Indiana (@BallySportsIN) March 25, 2024

While the Lakers were given 43 free throws this Sunday, their opponents only attempted 16. This wasn’t the first time this season that a head coach has spoken out against this clear disparity, as Toronto’s Darko Rajaković was even fined after yelling his discomfort after a game against the L.A. team back in January.

“I understand, respect for All-Stars and that, but we have star players on our team as well. How is it possible that Scottie Barnes [who was an All-Star this year]… he goes every single time to the rim with force and trying to get to the rim without flopping and not trying to get foul calls,” he started out.

The Raptors coach couldn’t understand how Barnes was treated so differently than his All-Star rivals. “He gets two free throws for the whole game. How is that possible? How are you going to explain that to me? They had to win tonight? If that’s the case just let us know so we don’t show up for the game. Just give them the win,” he said angrily.

The Serbian tactician ended up paying a $25,000 fine for his tantrum, as it will be curious to see if the NBA decides to punish Carlisle for his words. However, the Pacers coach did phrase his thoughts in a way that didn’t seem as controversial as the Toronto trainer.

The disparity is real: the Los Angeles club have taken 420 more free throw attempts than the Pacers this season

There is no doubt that the Lakers receive more free throw opportunities than most of their rivals, but is this due to strategy or preference from the officials? First let’s state the facts: the purple and gold have shot 420 more attempts from the free-throw line than Indiana this campaign, and almost 200 more than Milwaukee, who are their next opponents this Tuesday night.

This is the second-consecutive season in which they lead the league with most free throws, despite having the fourth-fewest drives per game and are in the bottom ten in paint touches. However, in Anthony Davis and LeBron James, they have two of the most physical attackers in the NBA and collect fouls constantly.

At the start of the campaign, the all-time NBA scoring leader decided to disprove this conspiracy theory. “A lot of people, a lot of coaches, a lot of teams are like ‘That’s all the Lakers do is get to the free throw line.’ It’s like this narrative out there that that’s all we do is get to the free throw line. I mean, we have attackers. That’s what we do,” he started out.

“We have attackers. Yeah, we shoot the ball from the perimeter, but we’re not shooting 40, 50 threes a game. We’re not that team. We don’t have the luxury of being that team. When we’re getting to the paint, that’s what we’re really good at,” LeBron assured.