NBA Official Scott Foster Out Sick Friday; Resting For Mavs vs. Suns Game 7?

The last thing Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns want to see in Sunday’s Game 7 is Scott Foster.

Dalton Trigg | May 13, 2022

For the most part, everything has gone the Dallas Mavericks’ way in three of the last four games against the Phoenix Suns in their Western Conference semifinals series.

After falling into a 2-0 deficit at the beginning of the series, Luka Doncic and the Mavs have stormed back to force a Game 7 on Sunday after blowing out the Suns in Game 6, 113-86.

gettyimages-1396970332-594x594 — Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

Although Dallas has the momentum heading into the finale on the road, the home team has won every game in this series. The Mavs desperately need their role players’ home production to translate to the road for just one game… but what if they also got some psychological help based on who is officiating Game 7?

On Friday, the NBA announced that Scott Foster will miss Game 6 of the Milwaukee Bucks’ semifinals series against the Boston Celtics due to a non-Covid related illness. Given Foster’s history with Suns’ point guard Chris Paul in big games, one has to wonder if his absence tonight means making an appearance on Sunday in Phoenix.

Chris Paul, Luka Doncic, Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks — Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

gettyimages-1240589618-594x594 — Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images

gettyimages-1396971263-594x594 — Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

Whether you want to call it a conspiracy, bad luck, or whatever else you can think of, the fact remains that Paul is 0-14 in his playoff career when Foster is officiating the game.

Do we believe Foster has it out for Paul? Of course not. Foster wouldn’t still be in the league if that was the case, at least we’d hope. But do we believe Paul has a mental block when he knows Foster is coming? Absolutely.

"(We've gotta) bring the same energy from the jump. Be ready to punch them in the mouth early. Just keep that going throughout the game," said Reggie Bullock, who went from scoring no points in Game 5 to 19 points on 5-11 shooting from downtown in Game 6.

The Mavs already have momentum, an extra day of rest, and the luxury of having the best player on the floor going for them. If Foster ends up officiating Game 7, that “punch in the mouth” might be a little bit harder.

Published May 13, 2022

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.