A game between the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night had an unusually low number of free throws attempted. The Bucks won 104-91 against the first-place Celtics. This win knotted up the season series between the two Eastern Conference teams at 2-2. The refs were letting the guys play out there as only two free throws were attempted the entire game.
Giannis’ Injury Contributed To Fewer Free Throw Attempts
Another possible reason that there were such few free throw attempts was that Bucks’ star Giannis Antetokounmpo suffered a calf injury late in the third quarter and did not return. The Greek Freak is notoriously known for driving the ball to the basket regularly and drawing fouls. Giannis is averaging the most free throw attempts this season at 10.7. Teammate Damian Lillard is 7th on the highest free throw attempts list, averaging seven per game. The fact that Antetokounmpo and Lillard did not get to the line more in this game is unusual. This game seems like an anomaly for the Bucks as they have averaged the third most free throw attempts in the league this season.
A Big Night From Beyond The Arc
ONLY 2 FREE THROWS WERE ATTEMPTED IN BUCKS-CELTICS ?
The FEWEST FT attempts since 1983 ? pic.twitter.com/momcOU9fjD
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 10, 2024
The two teams combined shot around six more threes than they usually do in a game. They attempted 88 three-pointers in the game. Boston averages 42.6 three-point attempts per game this season, the highest in the NBA. Milwaukee shoots an average of 38.3 three-pointers per game, which ranks 5th in the league. So this wasn’t a crazy high three-point game, but one that was more three-heavy than usual. For individual players, there weren’t any players on the top 10 list of most three-point attempts this season. Celtics guard Derrick White was 11th though, with 18 on December 19th.
There is a correlation between a high number of three-point attempts and a low number of free throw attempts. The Celtics have shot the sixth-fewest number of free throws this season at 20.3.
The Bucks shot an impressive 53.1 percent from the field and a hot 47.2 percent from three-point range. Another reason there weren’t a lot of free throws was because the Bucks couldn’t miss! They were making almost everything from deep. 44 percent of their shots were threes.
Will Low Free Throw Numbers Be A Thing Now?
Hopefully, the lower number of free throw attempts becomes more of a trend because too many fouls are called in the NBA. The league and the refs are becoming too soft on calling fouls. Yeah, I’m one of those guys who says the league is becoming soft. Many people would agree though. It’s almost like you can’t make any contact with another player without it being called a foul. Professional basketball is a contact sport after all. The refs of today haven’t gotten that memo though. The officiating crew for the Celtics-Bucks game did it right with this game though.
About The Author
Cooper Sherman is an avid NFL fan and enjoys watching and covering it the most. The NFL is king. He previously wrote and was a podcaster for the online publications Pro Sports Fanatics and Jersey Column. He is also an NBA fan and watches it occasionally, more when the NFL season ends. Tennis is also an underrated sport to watch. His teams are the Patriots and Celtics, as tough as it is to be a Patriots fan right now. He is optimistic that Jerod Mayo will turn this team in the right direction! Follow him on Instagram and Threads @coopstershermy456, and X/Twitter @justcoopthings.
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