Andre Drummond Sets NBA Record With 23 Missed Free Throws In Pistons Win

In basketball, one of the timeless strategies to slow down a big man is to intentionally foul him; this will force him to earn his points at the free throw line, a place where centers tend to struggle. While there are some obvious flaws to the play–each player is only allotted six fouls in a game and, if the opposition makes their foul shots, you are essentially giving away points–that doesn’t stop coaches from trying it in drastic situations.

That’s exactly what happened on Wednesday night, when the Houston Rockets targets Pistons’ big man Andre Drummond. He went to the charity stripe 36 times, but only converted 13 of his free throws which set an NBA record for the most misses in one game.

The Rockets even inserted a substitute, K.J. McDaniels, to foul Drummond five times in nine seconds, ensuring that subsequent fouls would send him to the line. Unsurprisingly, the box score looked surreal after the game.

When push came to shove, however, the strategy failed. Even with his misses, Drummond still finished the night with 17 points and 11 rebounds in a win.

“It didn’t work,” Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff said, according to ESPN. “That’s it. That’s all I have to say about that.”

Photo:  Andre Drummond #0 of the Detroit Pistons shoots over Thabo Sefolosha #25 of the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena on October 27, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Article by Joe Kozlowski