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.”
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.
Pacers 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)
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Foster, who’s been officiating NBA games since 1992, called 23 of those fouls, according to analysis by Yahoo Sports contributing NBA writer Tom Haberstroh:
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.
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“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.”
Asked which critiques specifically he’d seen and was referring to, Carlisle declined to elaborate.
“I’m not getting into it,” he said. “I’ve said what I’m going to say.”
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.”
“Well, there were a crap-ton of fouls — that’s why there were a crap-ton of free throws,” Daigneault said. “I thought the refs did a good job tonight. Both teams shot a lot of free throws. It was physical. That was what the game was. It was a physical game on both ends of the floor for both teams.”
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