A new chapter was written Wednesday in the ongoing rivalry between Chris Paul and referee Scott Foster. Paul’s record in Foster-officiated playoff games has since gone viral.
Paul was unceremoniously ejected with seconds to play in the first half of the Warriors-Suns matchup at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Ariz.
Foster whistled Paul for a foul, which the latter did not agree with. The exchange between the two escalated to the point that Foster issued two technical fouls in quick succession against the 12-time All-Star (video here).
The Warriors lost 123-115 against the Suns after Paul was forced out of the game.
The latest saga in the Paul-Foster beef led NBA reporter Tom Haberstroh to dig into the pair’s history.
Foster has officiated 20 of Paul’s postseason games. Haberstroh discovered that Paul’s teams were favored in 75% of those contests. However, Paul’s teams went on to win just 3 out of the 20 games and lost by an average margin of 11.2 points.
🚨 I found that Chris Paul’s teams were favored in 15 of 20 playoff games with Foster officiating. They went 3-17 and lost by an average of 11.2 points. I wrote about it all here: https://t.co/6CI3bzeqg9 https://t.co/AGokxVAMgX
— Mr. Statistician Face Man (@tomhaberstroh) November 23, 2023
It would be hard to believe that Paul’s record in Foster-officiated postseason games was just a mere coincidence.
Paul was vocal after Wednesday’s game about his issues with Foster being “personal” at this point.
Paul revealed that he even had a meeting that had members of Paul’s family present as well as his former coach Doc Rivers. Those meetings evidently did not clean the slate between Paul and Foster.
