Trips to the Foul Line The players who made the most free-throw attempts during the regular season. FREE-THROW ATTEMPTS FREE-THROW PERCENTAGE James Harden 881 [G] .847 Russell Westbrook 840 [G] .845 Jimmy Butler 676 [G] .865 DeMarcus Cousins 670 [C] .772 Isaiah Thomas 649 [G] .909 DeMar DeRozan 647 [G] .842 Anthony Davis [C,F] .802 647

James Harden

The Houston Rockets guard is known for his strength, agility and love of the pump fake. This play shows why he is one of the best at exposing the ball as he sweeps past defenders, enticing them to reach for the ball, often resulting in a foul. This also allows Harden to get past defenders who are reaching from behind, giving him scoring opportunities. This tactic also pulls bigger defenders out of position, making it harder for them to stop the scoring attempt.

Russell Westbrook

Westbrook's explosiveness and physical play are on full display here. The Oklahoma City Thunder guard can meet big guys at the rim, take the contact, hang in the air and contort his body to get a shot off or force a call. This Westbrook move often leaves referees with little choice but to call a foul on the defender.

Jimmy Butler

Butler, of the Chicago Bulls, is a strong guard who creates contact going to the basket and uses the pump fake well off a step back to get foul calls. On this play, Jeremy Lin is trying to recover to defend Butler; when Butler feels him on his back, he jumps to shoot, knowing Lin can’t stop his momentum, and gets the two free throws. Butler also uses a lot of pick-and-roll plays and likes to use the crossover dribble when there is space in front of a big man who is playing back.

Isaiah Thomas

Thomas is very good at creating contact on pick and rolls and snapping his head back to accentuate the contact. The Boston Celtics guard is also not afraid to hit the ground to try and get the call. In this play, Thomas stops on a dime to shoot off the screen with Ron Baker chasing him at full speed. Baker cannot stop his momentum, causing the foul. In this case, three free throws were awarded.

DeMar DeRozan

DeRozan, of the Toronto Raptors, frequently uses the pump fake to draw contact from players and, like Harden, has done a great job of sweeping through defenders. This play also illustrates how DeRozan is great at accentuating the contact, as he does here against Mindaugas Kuzminskas, by leaning his body back. He is strong enough and coordinated enough to maintain his balance and get a decent shot off for the potential score, plus a free throw.

Drawing the Foul When It’s One on One

These five guards are also good at drawing fouls on isolation plays — when the player’s teammates back away from the play, taking their defenders with them. This opens a one-on-one opportunity for the ball handler where he can try to beat the defender off the dribble or bait him into a foul.