Lakers having trouble taking free throws outside of the practice gym

By Eric Pincus

March 5, 2013 12 AM PT

The common thread in Lakers’ losses this season has been turnovers, poor transition defense and free-throw shooting.

Currently the Lakers are the worst team in the league from the free-throw line, shooting just 68.9%.

After every practice, the players routinely shoot to improve and in the team’s gym. By and large, they are accurate.

A board tracking their progress was recently updated to show individual percentages through the All-Star break.

Steve Nash and Jodie Meeks led the way at 97% over 1,278 and 1,340 cumulative attempts, respectively. Kobe Bryant, Steve Blake, Earl Clark and rookie Robert Sacre also averaged at least 90% in practice.

In games Bryant dipped to 84.6%, Blake to 54.5%, Clark to 67.6% and Sacre to 63.6%. Nash’s actual percentage of 91.9% was actually second to Meeks’ 92.7%.

Dwight Howard hit a legitimate 82% in the gym (1252-1532) but in games he couldn’t come close to that level of accuracy (49.5%).

All other Lakers hit between 82% and 89% in practice but none neared that in live competition. The team as a whole shot 89% in practice (16,527-18,649) through All-Star.

According to the board the team’s facility, over that same period they were 29th in the NBA at 69.3% (1,018-1,468)