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Jamal CollierJun 15, 2025, 04:22 PM ET
- Jamal Collier is an NBA newsman astatine ESPN. Collier covers the Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls and the Midwest portion of the NBA, including stories specified arsenic Minnesota's iconic jersey swap betwixt Anthony Edwards and Justin Jefferson. He has been astatine ESPN since Sept. 2021 and antecedently covered the Bulls for the Chicago Tribune. You tin scope retired to Jamal connected Twitter @JamalCollier oregon via email Jamal.Collier@espn.com.
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Indiana manager Rick Carlisle connected Sunday day defended referee Scott Foster, who has travel nether occurrence for his show officiating Game 4 of the NBA Finals betwixt the Pacers and Thunder.
"It's atrocious what immoderate of the things I've seen astir the officiating and Scott Foster successful particular," Carlisle said earlier the Pacers' practice. "He's a large official, he's done a large occupation successful this playoffs."
Carlisle acknowledged his narration with Foster goes backmost 30 years, to erstwhile Foster began officiating successful the NBA during the 1994-95 season. Foster has been fixed the nickname "The Extender" for the cognition that teams trailing successful a playoff bid person often won games helium has officiated, causing the bid to spell connected much games.
"We've had him a batch of times," Carlisle said. "And this ridiculous scrutiny that's being thrown retired determination is unspeakable and unfair and unjust and stupid."
Carlisle said helium did not privation to get into specifics astir what scrutiny helium was responding to.
The Pacers and Thunder combined to sprout 71 escaped throws successful Game 4 connected Friday nighttime successful Indianapolis with the Thunder having a 38-33 borderline successful attempts. There were 2 flagrant fouls, 2 method fouls and 53 full foul calls successful the game.
"There were a crap ton of fouls. That's wherefore determination were a crap ton of escaped throws," Thunder manager Mark Daigneault said afterward. "I thought the refs did a bully occupation tonight. Both teams changeable a batch of escaped throws. It was physical. That was what the crippled was. It was a carnal crippled connected some ends of the level for some teams."
But an evident missed telephone with 2:23 remaining successful the 4th fourth arsenic the Thunder made their comeback caught the ire of fans. Thunder defender and NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander appeared to perpetrate an violative foul by pushing disconnected Pacers guardant Aaron Nesmith arsenic helium defended him, earlier Gilgeous-Alexander deed the go-ahead jumper to enactment Oklahoma City up 104-103.
Gilgeous-Alexander changeable 8 escaped throws successful the 4th fourth arsenic the Thunder won the crippled 111-104 to necktie the bid astatine 2-2.
Game 5 is Monday nighttime successful Oklahoma City.
