Report: Scott Foster Among Referees For Celtics-Cavs Game 4
By Matt Dolloff, 985TheSportsHub.com
Scott Foster will be one of the three referees for Game 4 between the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night at Quicken Loans Arena, according to a report from betting website Sports Insights. Bill Kennedy and Eric Lewis will serve as the other two officials.
Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo! Sports confirmed the report. The Celtics are 1-4 against the spread in games officiated by Foster this season, including Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Cs committed 28 personal fouls in that game, compared to 23 for the Sixers, who won 103-92. Foul calls included a 13-2 discrepancy in favor of the Sixers in the second quarter.
Home teams were 38-23 in the regular season in games officiated by Foster, and have been 6-2 in the playoffs so far. However, personal foul calls have been a virtual tie for Foster, with an average of 21.9 calls in favor of the road team compared to 21.0 for home teams.
Kennedy’s numbers suggest an even stronger tilt toward the home team. They are 5-0 so far in the playoffs in Kennedy-officiated games, with 19.8 average personal fouls called against them compared to 22.0 for road squads. As for Lewis, home teams are 5-1 in playoff games officiated by him this season.
The numbers for these particular officials suggest that the Celtics will have the deck stacked against them in Game 4. But clearly, if they don’t simply play better than they did in Game 3, then they won’t have much of a chance of extending their series lead anywyay.
Matt Dolloff is a digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Have a news tip, question, or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff or email him at [email protected].
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