in the regular season, the rockets finished second in the league with 26.1 fta/gm. behind only the clippers. the refs seemed to think we got fouled a lot. in the playoffs, we are 2nd to last. we're not at the top like the regular season, we're not middle of the pack, we're damn near last. here is a comparison of the percentage rise or fall of a team's fta/gm in the playoffs vs the regular season. +39.7 Philadelphia 76ers +38.9 Miami Heat +22.0 Indiana Pacers +18.9 Dallas Mavericks +15.2 Los Angeles Lakers +13.4 Boston Celtics +9.1 LA Clippers +4.8 Oklahoma City Thunder +3.4 Toronto Raptors +2.7 Portland Trail Blazers -3.5 Utah Jazz -6.2 Orlando Magic -10.0 Brooklyn Nets -17.2 Denver Nuggets -17.8 Milwaukee Bucks -23.4 Houston Rockets hmm, which team is way in last place? meanwhile, philly and miami are seeing a 40% rise in free throws! but hey, maybe certain series have their own character. refs are calling them tight or loose. lets compare the numbers above to a teams opponents to see who is being called most differently in their series (i.e. philly is plus 39.7 and boston is +13.4 so philly is +26.3 compared to their matchup). +28.2 Oklahoma City Thunder +26.4 Philadelphia 76ers +16.9 Miami Heat +13.7 Utah Jazz +13.4 Toronto Raptors +12.5 Los Angeles Lakers +11.6 Orlando Magic +9.8 Dallas Mavericks -9.8 LA Clippers -11.6 Milwaukee Bucks -12.5 Portland Trail Blazers -13.4 Brooklyn Nets -13.7 Denver Nuggets -16.9 Indiana Pacers -26.4 Boston Celtics -28.2 Houston Rockets so we're not just last in an absolute sense. we're last in a relative sense! no one is being treated worse relative to their opponent than the rockets. considering the thunder have been in the penalty before houston even shot a free throw in all 3 games this series (the odds of that have to be pretty staggering) and harden just fouled out of his only game this season, this isn't surprising. the question is, is there anything that can be done or do we just resign ourselves to the fact that "the refs swallow their whistles in the playoffs" seems to apply largely only to us?
Thx OP for confirming what I already knew to be fact. The drastic difference from regular season to playoffs is telling. Same problem since the 2018 western conference finals. It’s why I’ll never blame harden for a loss. This whole organization has been up againist forces in the league that do not want us to succeed come playoff time. I’m just enjoying the ride till harden retires. Then I’m done with the nba just like I was with the wwe when the rock left pro wrestling in his prime
I assume Westbrook missing is a factor. Who is a threat to draw FTs other than Harden? What about OKC? Where did they rank in allowing FTs?
eric Gordon and Austin rivers definitely should have gotten more free throws in game 3. I know eg complains a lot but he was legit fouled a lot this game
Because it's all rigged. Tim Donaghy, 2002 Lakers-Kings series, 2014 Nets-Raptors series, and just today. Lakers had 24 more FTAs than the Blazers and you can bet this is a preview of what's to come when we face them in the second round. Enjoy the game but don't get your hopes up, there's a narrative that needs to be followed at the end of the day.
@Jontro @Reeko because ESPN's Stephen A Smith and Max Kellerman control the outcomes of the game to influence their show to have more topics to gain higher ratings
Well Clint drew fouls, but that was replaced by Westbrook (and then some). With Westbrook out, we're bound to drop dramatically. The other thing is, before the playoffs like 4 different interviews with different Thunder players/coach had the exact same message: they are not going to foul us, they do not want to let us go to the line a lot. So it makes perfect sense.
OP I know this is asking a lot, but could you do this same graph in differences in free throws from regular season to playoffs for the rockets since 2018.
that’s part of the reason I want this data from the previous playoffs. The Westbrook excuse is valid for this year. But I wanna know and am curious as to how long this type of officiating has been going on in the harden era.
That's cool, but that would still not be proof. Just as I demonstrated about this season, things don't happen in a vacuum. The league allows slightly rougher play in the playoffs, and Harden loses a couple of FT's this way from the regular season. That's normal, I don't know why people dwell on it. Should he stop getting those couple of points in the regular season if he can't get them in the playoffs? There's no conspiracy. The media prefers whatever makes the most money. If there was going to be a refereeing conspiracy, I'm sure our casino-tied owner would be in on it.
i looked it up once. as i recall, the playoff free throw rate has been higher than the regular season free throw rate 9 of the last 10 years (i didn't go back any further). the idea of rougher play and less free throws is not reality.
that's every team's plan against every team that shoots a lot of free throws. the thunder aren't unique. the clippers shot even more free throws than us this year. dallas and okc have almost identical opponents ft/fga numbers (both are good). yet the clippers are up 9% and we are down 23%. do you think rick carlisle didn't tell his team that fouling is bad?
i can tell you more rockets specific. in 2018 playoffs, our FTR dropped 12.5%, while the league FTR in the playoffs went up about 6%. our opponents ranked 11/13/15 in FTR defense, so basically league average. a pretty staggering drop all things considered. last year we actually went up 4%, but the playoffs went up 10%. our opponents ranked 8/21 in FTR defense, so again basically league average. so not quite as bad, but again another drop. so at least 3 straight years of lower free throw rates.
You seem to be ignoring the key point: the Thunder emphasized it more than any other team I have ever seen emphasize it. It's evident on the court if you are watching full games. It's not reasonable for you to chalk that up to a theory you have about all teams. Plus the part you left out, Russell Westbrook is sitting and he is a huge chunk of our FT's. There's nothing to see here. The free throw disparity is easily explained by watching the game.
I like the humble approach of providing empirical data and asking a question about it. But the answer is clear, the league hates the Rockets and Harden. I can only extrapolate why people have the biases they have against the city and the team, I'm more interested in what the CF members think the reasons are to hate the team/city.
