The New York Knicks will host the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, and Scott Foster will be the crew chief.
This season, more than in recent years, the NBA playoffs have been increasingly physical. Aaron Gordon had to be separated from James Harden, Bennedict Mathurin punched De’Andre Hunter, and the Orlando Magic were accused of crossing a line by the Boston Celtics in the first round.
As the postseason gains attention for fights and chippy plays, the NBA has brought in a longtime referee, Scott Foster, to oversee Game 4 between the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks.
Foster has twice been named the worst official in the NBA by anonymous players, but he has been working since 1994. When the NBA announced he would be serving as crew chief, fans were happy to voice their opinions.
Foster has been (in)famous in NBA circles for several decades now. As far as officials go, he has a hot temper, is quick to eject players, and loves to blow his whistle.
This season, he actually ranked 49th out of 121 officials in fouls called per game with 37.7 across 49 contests.
“The Knicks won 80% of their games this season with him,” posted a fan. “Silver is NOT slick about his childhood team.”
“Knicks winning by 15+ now,” added another.
Foster is known as “The Extender” because teams trailing in playoff series often win when he is officiating games, which gives Celtics fans some hope that Boston can come back from their 1-2 deficit.
“Time to put my net worth on the Celtics,” chimed in another fan.
“Scott Foster officiating the Knicks game yeah man we cooked he ______ sucks,” posted a Knicks’ supporter.
“Scott Foster the extender tonight let’s go let’s get it to 2-2,” added a Celtics fan.
Of course, fans of both teams are convinced that Foster will give them an advantage in the game, although his numbers this season (and over his career) suggest that things might be pretty fair.
This season, the Knicks are 4-1 in games Foster refereed. The Celtics, on the other hand, are 3-1. Of course, both teams had solid seasons, so a winning record is to be expected.
Over his 31-season career spanning nearly 2,000 regular-season games, Foster has shown limited bias. He calls 21.4 fouls per game on the Knicks and 21.9 fouls per game on the Celtics, nearly identical.
He has called an extra foul on Knicks’ opponents over the years, and an extra 0.8 fouls per game on the Celtics’ opponents, so there isn’t really an indication of favoritism.
This season, in a limited sample size, he has been more on the Knicks’ side. In the five games he officiated, he called only 16.6 fouls per game on the Knicks, compared to their 17.2 fouls per game average. Boston, meanwhile, averaged only 15.9 fouls per game this year, and in the four games officiated by Foster, they averaged 19.3 whistles per game.
That’s a difference of -0.5 for the Knicks and +3.4 for the Celtics, which could end up in a nearly eight-point swing in favor of the Knicks if they hit all of their free throws.
