Pistons hit just 1 free throw in blowout loss to Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers put on a master class in defensive discipline Tuesday night, holding the Detroit Pistons to an astounding three free-throw attempts - just one of which Detroit converted - in a 113-93 win.

The improbably low total can be chalked up to a combination of passivity from the Pistons (who looked gassed at the end of a tough West Coast swing), vigilance from the Lakers (who managed to play active, swarming defense without being overaggressive), and some unusually tight-whistled officiating. (The Lakers also conceded 50 points in the paint, and arguably could've done with a bit more physicality at the rim, but in a 20-point win who's counting?)

The Pistons didn't shoot a free throw until the 6:25 mark of the fourth quarter, when Reggie Jackson got Josh Hart to bite on a pump fake and converted an and-one jump shot. They were 33 seconds from tying the all-time record low - set by the Memphis Grizzlies in 2014 - but Tyler Ennis fouled Eric Moreland on a driving layup attempt in garbage time. Moreland missed both free throws, leaving the Pistons tied for the second-lowest total makes in history (the Toronto Raptors made zero in a game during their inaugural 1995-96 season).

That the Pistons would struggle to get to the line could've been expected, given they came into the game with the NBA's lowest free-throw rate, while the Lakers came in ranked sixth in opponents' free-throw rate. But to put the extent of the Pistons' charity-stripe aversion in context, their league-worst rate had still meant attempting one free throw for every 5.2 field-goal attempts. On Tuesday, they shot 31.3 field goals for every free throw. It's tough to win a game that way.