Scott Foster is the referee Chris Paul doesn't want to meet again / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Christian Petersen/Getty Images/AFP Credit Christian Petersen/Getty Images/AFP

The Phoenix Suns dropped Game 2 of their first-round playoff series against the New Orleans Pelicans, also losing Devin Booker to hamstring injury.

However, there's a funny stat that accompanies star guard Chris Paul for almost throughout his career. That loss was Paul's 14th consecutive in the NBA playoffs when referee Scott Foster officiated the game.

The two have had a public feud that goes back over 10 years, but it has become general public knowledge only recently. It goes all the way back to Paul's third season in the NBA.

In 2007-2008, he led the Hornets to a 56-26 record, fourth best in the NBA. In the second round of the playoffs, the Hornets would play a grueling seven-game series against the defending champion San Antonio Spurs.

Referee Scott Foster worked that game, where Paul finished with 19 points and 14 assists. However, in the closing minutes, he fouled out for the first time in the playoffs in his career.

Paul blasted Foster multiple times after some losses as a member of the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder.

When Paul was traded to the Houston Rockets, his team would go on to lose all seven playoff games officiated by Foster.After a regular season loss in 2018, Paul, who was called for a technical foul during the game, decided to say it was "Scott Foster at his finest," in the postgame.

The following season, Foster refereed another loss for the Rockets, which made James Harden claim that the NBA shouldn't allow Foster to officiate games anymore. It was during a Rockets vs. Thunder Game 7, when Foster called Paul for a delay of game. During his postgame press conference, the current Suns point guard explained what happened.

"That s**t don't make no sense; that's crazy, he's just... that situation, the league knows, they going to fine me, we all know. I said his name, you all know the history."

Last season, as a member of the Phoenix Suns, he found himself in yet another playoff game officiated by Foster. This time it was against the Los Angeles Lakers with the series tied 1-1.Paul and the Suns lost handily, with CP3 having his worst game of the postseason.

He scored seven points on 3/8 shooting and it looked like he had had enough. "If I was a betting man, 11 games in a row… 11 games in a row," he repeated.

Foster most recently was also the official in Game 6 of the 2021 NBA Finals. In that game, the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Suns to claim the championship and Paul found himself in foul trouble all game long.

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