Rick Carlisle Defends Referee Scott Foster After Criticism in the NBA Finals
Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle defended referee Scott Foster, who has received strong criticism for his performance in Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder.Carlisle acknowledged that his relationship with Foster goes back 30 years, when Foster began refereeing in the NBA in the 1994-95 season. Foster has been nicknamed “The Extender” due to the perception that teams trailing in a playoff series have often won games he has officiated, thus prolonging the series.It’s terrible what I’ve seen about the refereeing and about Scott Foster in particular. He’s a great official, he’s done a great job in these playoffs.
Rick Carlisle
Carlisle didn’t want to go into detail about the type of scrutiny he was responding to. In Game 4, the Pacers and Thunder combined to shoot 71 free throws, with the Thunder having a 38-33 advantage in attempts. There were two flagrant fouls, two technical fouls, and 53 fouls in total in the game.We’ve had this many times. And this ridiculous scrutiny that is being thrown around is terrible, unfair, and undeserved.
Rick Carlisle
There were a lot of fouls. That’s why there were a lot of free throws. I think the referees did a good job tonight. Both teams shot a lot of free throws. It was physical. That’s what the game was. It was a physical game on both ends of the court for both teams.
Mark Daigneault, Thunder coach
An apparent unsanctioned foul with 2:23 remaining in the last quarter, when the Thunder rallied, provoked the fans’ anger. Thunder guard and NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander apparently committed an offensive foul by pushing Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith before scoring the shot that put Oklahoma City ahead 104-103.
Gilgeous-Alexander made eight free throws in the final quarter, as the Thunder won the game 111-104 to tie the series 2-2. Game 5 is on Monday night in Oklahoma City.
