Rick Carlisle Slams Referee Scott Foster Amid Controversial Pacers-Thunder NBA Finals Call—What Really Happened?
The heat from Game 4 of the 2025 NBA Finals isn’t cooling down anytime soon. After the Oklahoma City Thunder eked out a gritty victory, a flood of criticism rained down on the officials, particularly targeting veteran referee Scott Foster — and Indiana Pacers’ head coach Rick Carlisle isn’t having any of it. At Sunday’s practice, just a day before Game 5, Carlisle didn’t mince words, calling the backlash “awful” and “stupid,” standing firmly behind Foster’s integrity and years of experience. With the game breaking records in fouls and free throws — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander alone sinking 10 freebies, including eight in the crucial fourth quarter — the drama extended far beyond the hardwood. Carlisle’s blunt dismissal of the mounting officiating complaints adds another twist to this already intense series. For those craving the full scoop, here’s where to get all the gritty details. LEARN MOREPacers head coach Rick Carlisle speaks with referee Josh Tiven during the second half of Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Friday, June 13, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)Asked which critiques specifically he’d seen and was referring to, Carlisle declined to elaborate.
Some fans and pundits called foul on the elevated total number of calls in general, and the number of times Foster blew his whistle in particular. Carlisle made clear on Sunday he found the critiques offensive. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
“I’m not getting into it,” he said. “I’ve said what I’m going to say.”
During his news conference at Indiana’s Sunday practice session ahead of Game 5 on Monday, Carlisle fielded a question about how much of a role he felt the officiating played in Game 4, which featured 53 personal fouls, two flagrant fouls, two technical fouls and 71 total free throws — all high-water marks for the series. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shot 10 of those free throws, including eight in the fourth quarter, as part of a 15-point final frame that helped Oklahoma City erase a 10-point third-quarter deficit to tie the series at two games apiece.“As far as officiating, I think it’s awful, some of the things I’ve seen about the officiating, and Scott Foster, in particular,” Carlisle said. “I’ve known Scott Foster for 30 years. He’s a great official. He’s done a great job in these playoffs. We’ve had him a lot of times, and the ridiculous scrutiny that’s being thrown out there is terrible, and unfair, and unjust. It’s stupid.”
AdvertisementFoster, who’s been officiating NBA games since 1992, called 23 of those fouls, according to analysis by Yahoo Sports contributing NBA writer Tom Haberstroh:OKLAHOMA CITY — Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle on Sunday decried the swell of public criticism of the officiating that flowed following the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Game 4 win in the 2025 NBA Finals, describing the carping on perceived mistaken calls and non-calls — specifically those involving longtime NBA referee Scott Foster — as, among other things, “awful” and “stupid.”After Game 4, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said he didn’t see anything untoward in the uptick in whistles — referred to by one reporter as “a crap-ton of free throws.”Advertisement
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