LOS ANGELES — The Warriors must lead the league in missed fourth-quarter free throws that give fans in road arenas free fast food.
On Monday night in the Intuit Dome, Brandin Podziemski missed two of three foul shots, at which the crowd erupted: Podziemski’s misses meant free Chick-fil-A for everyone.
Golden State went 9-for-19 from the foul line in Monday’s 102-99 loss to the Clippers. Turnovers were also a major factor, but missing 10 free throws in a three-point loss is an easy variable to point to.
It also would be an easy one to overlook if it was an outlier. But the Warriors rank dead last in the league in free throw percentage despite employing Steph Curry, the most accurate foul shooter of all time. Their 69.7% season percentage is 8.4 percentage points lower than the league average.
“That’s an issue,” Draymond Green said after the Clippers loss. “You’ve got to make free throws if you want to win at a high level in this league.”
At least, the Warriors say, the issue is fixable. And at least it hadn’t held the team back before the second Clippers matchup. But Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has repeatedly opined about how the margin for error is smaller for his team now, that they can’t afford to play the same loose style they once did.
They likewise can’t afford to leave so many points on the board.
“We’ve got to work on it, obviously,” Kerr said. “Our guys have to get in the gym, find their rhythm, find their confidence from the line.”
Only 50 teams since the 1976 merger have finished a season with a free throw percentage lower than 70%. Twenty-nine of those teams made the postseason and seven made the NBA Finals (five of which had Shaquille O’Neal).
In other words: Unless you have Shaq, it’s almost impossible to win your conference while missing 30% of your foul shots.
The Warriors do not have Shaq.
They do have seven rotation players shooting below 70% from the stripe: Brandin Podziemski, Jonathan Kuminga, Kevon Looney, Gary Payton II, Draymond Green, De’Anthony Melton and Trayce Jackson-Davis.
Getting in the gym and repeating motions should help. So should positive encouragement from the coaching staff; every NBA player is capable of making foul shots, but it’s a mental game.
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Regression to the mean will also affect many of those players. Podziemski, struggling with his confidence, is shooting 60% from the foul line even though he shot 77% in college. Kuminga’s percentage is down from 74.6% to 60.7% this year. Melton (62.5%) is a career 78% free-throw shooter.
Against the Clippers, Kuminga missed his first three foul shots while staring into ‘The Wall’ — the Intuit Dome’s rowdy fan section. Podziemski’s two misses in the fourth quarter came on the other side of the court. Jackson-Davis missed both of his attempts from the line.
Andrew Wiggins, who logged 22 points, went 6-for-8 from 15 feet out as Golden State’s lone foul-shot marksman.
“Repetition,” Wiggins said postgame. “That’s the best thing for it. Just getting in the gym and getting shots up. Feeling good about yourself and proving it in a game.”
The Warriors’ 9-for-19 (47.3%) performance from the foul line in the Intuit Dome was a season-low. But they’ve also had a 16-for-27 game and a 32-for-50 one.
“It’s a glaring issue that we need to correct,” Curry said. “It’s not like we’re going to spend an hour at practice and everybody shoots free throws. It’s what you do pre-practice, post-practice to get your confidence right. It is correctable, that’s a good thing. We understand that details do matter. If you get maybe five more, it changes the game. So, get your work in.”