The disparity in free throw shooting in the lead-up to Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors was the Lakers’ major edge at getting to the free throw line. Prior to the two teams squaring off at Chase Center on Wednesday night, Warriors coach Steve Kerr brought up their “gamesmanship,” telling the press that “you give them credit, but you lament the fact that, as a league, we’re gonna reward that type of play with … the game and the series and all that stuff at stake, you would hope that the officials would recognize when a guy just takes a dive.”
Golden State would go on to win Game 5, 121-106, with both teams getting to the line 15 times and the Warriors actually hitting two more. After the game, LeBron James was asked about Kerr’s comments, and stressed that the Lakers don’t do that.
Lakers’ LeBron James on Steve Kerr’s flopping allegations: “We’re just not a team that goes out there looking for flopping opportunities. That’s just not us. It’s actually never been any team I’ve played on in my 20 years.” pic.twitter.com/F4fsfufBiE
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) May 11, 2023
“We’re just not a team that goes out there looking for flopping opportunities,” James said. “That’s just not us, it’s actually never been any team that I’ve played on in my 20 years where we’ve been a flopping team. But, it is what it is, they have the right to say what they want to say.”
Wednesday night marked the first game in the series that Golden State both had as many free throw attempts as and more points from the charity stripe than Los Angeles.
