There's one thing the Lakers are doing well on offense during what's been a difficult, winless start to the 2014-15 season: getting to the foul line.
Only three teams – Sacramento, Toronto and Houston – have attempted more than L.A.'s 31.6 free throws per game.
Their conversion rate of 75.9 percent isn't great, ranking just 17th in the NBA, but getting there so often helps make up for a lack of perimeter shooting that leaves L.A. third from the bottom in 3-point attempts (14.6).
”That's going well," said head coach Byron Scott. "We are trying to attack the rim and get to the basket. Our spacing over the last couple of games has gotten better.”
That spacing has opened driving lanes that Kobe Bryant has capitalized the most upon, as he leads the march to the charity stripe with his 8.8 attempts per game (8th in the NBA). Jeremy Lin's next at 4.8, while Jordan Hill's taking 4.6 and Ed Davis 3.2, with three other Lakers attempting at least two.
"(Getting to the line is) a byproduct of the offense," Scott continued. "It opens it up, and when we do it the right way, we get open shots or we get to the basket.”
Backup point guard Ronnie Price has attempted eight free throws through five games, as he's more often laying the ball off to big men in screen/roll situations than attacking all the way to the rim, as Lin or Bryant more commonly do. But he understands the design of Scott's offense, intending to create lanes to the hoop whether a foul occurs or not.
"Our offense is tailor-made to get guys to scoring position and for players who can go in attack mode (like Lin and Bryant), said Price. "Ed, Jordan and Carlos (Boozer) are all aggressive on offense and take advantage of movement to the rim.”
Meanwhile, the Lakers have been playing an aggressive style on defense that's resulted in putting their opponent at the free throw line even more, to the tune of 34.2 attempts per game, pushed up by 44 attempts by the Clippers on Oct. 31, including 19 in the fourth quarter alone.
Scott thinks his team will naturally settle in defensively as the players get more time on the court with each other and with the scheme, as giving up so many free points won't help the win column.
Heading into Sunday's game against Charlotte and a two-game trip to Memphis and New Orleans, L.A.'s parade to the foul line should increase even more as Lin gets continually comfortable in the offense and takes on more responsibility. With that said, Scott knows the free throw game is only one part of the game for a team angling for a victory. He'll always value defense above all.
"There isn't a facet of the game we don't have to keep working on," he concluded. "The biggest emphasis is always going to be on defense.”