NBA official Scott Foster will referee Tuesday’s game between the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers in their first-round series of the NBA playoffs.
In the last 14 playoff games Foster has officiated in which Suns point guard Chris Paul has played, Paul’s team has lost each of those contests. However, Paul was unavailable for the Suns’ second game of the Western Conference Finals two years ago against the Clippers, which Foster officiated, and Phoenix won on a buzzer-beating alley-oop to center Deandre Ayton.
The Suns need to win Game 2 of this series after they lost Game 1 at home Sunday afternoon, 115-110.
Foster and Paul’s beef goes back to Paul’s first playoff run with the then-named New Orleans Hornets in 2008. Foster officiated the Hornets’ Game 7 loss to the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals.
When Paul was traded to the Houston Rockets in 2017, the team lost six straight playoff games officiated by Foster. There were two moments in which Paul and former Rocket teammate James Harden addressed Foster’s officiating in the media.
Paul’s beef with Foster has impacted his Sun's career. Foster refereed the Suns’ Game 3 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2021 Western Conference first-round.
“If I was a betting man, 11 games in a row,” Paul told reporters after the game, referring to the 11 straight playoff losses he had with Foster as an official.
Foster later officiated the Suns’ Game 6 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2021 NBA Finals.
The Suns will play the Clippers in Game 2 of their series Tuesday night at 7 p.m. The game will be televised by TNT.