KEY POINTS

  • Chris Paul addressed the Suns' Game 3 loss to the Lakers
  • Paul suggested that one of the referees who officiated the game did another terrible job 
  • The Lakers had also been linked to a controversial win involving the refs during the play-in

Chris Paul has made a bold claim about the Phoenix Suns’ recent loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Following the Lakers’ 109-95 thumping of the Suns Thursday, Paul didn’t hesitate to express his disappointment over the referees’ allegedly bad officiating of the game, specifically Scott Foster.

According to the 11-time NBA All-Star, Foster's officiation was terrible during his team’s Game 3 loss to the Lakers. Based on Paul’s count, it was the 11th time Foster has done it against him in the playoffs.

“If I was a betting man, 11 games in a row,” Paul said in his post-game presser, referring to the number of his games where Foster apparently did a terrible job officiating. “11 games in a row. We’ll see what happens. 11 in a row.”

It can be recalled that in January 2018, Paul, who was still with the Houston Rockets at the time, accused Foster of incompetence during a regular season game against the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Rockets went on to win the said game, but the upset Paul put Foster on the spot for giving him a technical foul.

"Yeah, Scott Foster at his finest. You know what I mean? He just never fails,” he claimed. “Some of them, you can [communicate] with. You've just gotta figure out who you can and you can't.”

“I got a tech tonight,” he continued. “I'm over there with [referee Courtney Kirkland] saying, 'That's Scott, that's Scott,' and I got a tech. That's history there. He the man. That's who they pay to see."

Chris Paul
Chris Paul Getty Images

As for the Lakers, Paul’s claim saw the Purple and Gold being linked to a controversial post-season win for the second time around this season.

An earlier report revealed that two of the referees who officiated the Lakers vs. Warriors play-in game have had a history with both teams.

The NBA appointed the trio of referees John Goble, Tre Maddox and Josh Tiven to function on the floor, while Brian Forte was an alternate.

To put this into context, interesting data showed that the Warriors were 1-14 in their last 15 games with Goble and Maddox as officials.

Further adding weight to the said stat, NBA data analyst Owen Phillips also came up with a report that Goble and Maddox actually “have a history” of calling game-dictating “fouls” against both the Dubs and the Lakers.

“According to NBA data analyst Owen Phillips, Maddox and Goble have a history of calling personal fouls and technical fouls with a high frequency against the Warriors and Lakers,” the report read.

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