Massive 4th quarter free throw disparity for Lakers causes Raptors coach to lose his mind 

The Los Angeles Lakers desperately needed their 132-131 win over the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night, and Raptors’ head coach Darko Rajaković believes they got all the help they needed from the referees. 

Lakers 4th quarter free throw dominance was the difference in the game

When asked about the Lakers’ massive 23 to two free throw advantage in the final quarter, Rajaković didn’t mince words.

“That’s outrageous, what happened tonight, this is completely BS. This is shame. Shame for the referees. Shame for the league to allow this. 23 free throws for them, and we get two free throws in the fourth quarter.” 

The massive discrepancy in free throws was glaring, and Rajaković felt the referees’ preferential whistle for the Lakers stars over the Raptors’ stars was to blame, saying, “I understand respect for All-Stars, but we have star players on our team as well.”    

Rajaković cited Scottie Barnes as one of Toronto’s All-Stars who has had a hard time getting to the line this season, 3.8 attempts per game, despite attacking the basket relentlessly. He managed only two free throw attempts in the fourth quarter despite initiating contact with his defender on three separate occasions and failing to draw a whistle. 

The Raptors and Barnes’ inability to draw fouls seems to have been boiling in Rajaković’s mind, and last night was the straw that broke the camel’s back. When asked if this was a one-off, Rajaković responded, “It’s happening a lot, but I’m telling our guys, ‘Be professional, keep fighting, keep going for the next one,’ but until when? For how long?”

LeBron James has a different theory, 'they fouled and we didn't'

While Darko Rajaković was hot over the referees’ handling of the fourth quarter, Lakers star LeBron James had a different theory for the massive free throw differential, saying, "I feel like they fouled, and we didn't."

Going through the fourth-quarter game tape, two things stand out immediately. The Lakers were far better at earning free throws on marginal calls compared to the Raptors, but that is a skill. While Rajaković is right that Barnes doesn’t get a great whistle, a large issue of his is he doesn’t flail to sell contact. The other glaring issue the Raptors faced was the absence of Jakob Poeltl. 

Anthony Davis earned 11 of the Lakers’ 23 fourth-quarter free throws, and a large reason he was able to get to the line was he was always surrounded by much smaller defenders. Verticality is allowed on defense, but when there is a significant size disparity, verticality becomes much more difficult. 

Still, at the 3:53 mark in the fourth-quarter, the Lakers held a 19 to 13 free throw attempt edge in the game. From that point on, the Raptors would go to the line zero times, compared to the Lakers' 17 additional attempts. Part of that was playing the foul game at the end, but it's reasonable for Rajaković to be heated.

If Rajaković is right to be furious with the referees, and LeBron James is correct that the Lakers just didn’t foul as much, then the truth lies somewhere in between. The Raptors deserved better than a negative-21 gap in fourth-quarter free throws, but they still deserved to be in the red. However, in a game decided by one point, a single whistle is the difference in the game.