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In Game 2, the Suns defeated the Clippers and Chris Paul ended his notorious losing streak against referee Scott Foster
Chris Paul had not won any of his last 13 playoff games that were officiated by Scott Foster before the Suns’ Game 2 victory on Tuesday.
Despite his success against various players in the NBA postseason, Chris Paul has historically struggled against referee Scott Foster, as evidenced by his losing streak in playoff games refereed by Foster.
Chris Paul had lost his last 13 playoff games refereed by Scott Foster before Tuesday’s win in Game 2 of the 2021 Western Conference Finals.
In the past, Foster has officiated some of Paul’s significant games, including his first Game 7 in 2008 when the New Orleans Hornets lost to the San Antonio Spurs. He was also involved in several crucial games of Paul’s Houston Rockets and his final game with the Oklahoma City Thunder, where they lost to the Rockets.
Although it may take a few more months before Paul could potentially win a championship, he was able to achieve a small victory on Tuesday by breaking his losing streak against referee Scott Foster.
The Phoenix Suns managed to end their first-round series tie against the Los Angeles Clippers with a win, with referee Scott Foster officiating. This victory broke Chris Paul’s 13-game playoff losing streak when Foster was the referee. Despite scoring 16 points, Paul did not take any free throws during the game.
Although the losing streak is now over, it seems that the relationship between Chris Paul and referee Scott Foster will remain strained. Paul has previously met with the NBA to voice his concerns about Foster, and after losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the 2021 playoffs, he repeatedly mentioned “11 in a row” in reference to his losses in Foster-officiated games. In a recent anonymous player poll conducted by The Athletic, Foster received the most votes for “Who is the worst ref?” compared to any other official.
There was a controversial officiating moment this season where Foster ejected Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes at the end of a close game against the Denver Nuggets. It wasn’t immediately clear on the broadcast why Barnes was ejected, but Foster eventually explained that Barnes had used “verbiage that which directly questioned the integrity of the crew.”
The contentious history between Paul and Foster is unlikely to fully resolve, but the NBA can certainly breathe a sigh of relief now that the streak and its negative associations are finally over.