Scott Foster among NBA referees assigned to Celtics-Heat Game 4

Celtics

Scott Foster among NBA referees assigned to Celtics-Heat Game 4

The Boston Celtics will try to avoid falling into a 3-1 hole when they host the Miami Heat for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday night at TD Garden.

The Heat jumped out to a 39-18 lead after the first quarter in Game 3 and held on to that advantage despite a furious Celtics comeback attempt.

This insane stat shows how improbable Heat’s 2-1 lead over Celtics really is

Although Game 4 is technically not a must-win matchup for Boston, it pretty much is given the fact that so few teams in NBA playoff history have won a series after trailing 3-1.

The league announced its referee assignments for Game 4 on Monday morning, and Scott Foster, nicknamed “The Extender” is one of three officials on the list.

Foster is one of the most well-known referees and has 28 years of experience. The Heat have a 23-12 all-time playoff record in games Foster has officiated throughout his career. The Celtics are 15-19 in postseason games where Foster is one of the referees, per Basketball Reference.

Another interesting stat from this crew: Home teams have won 77 percent of the games in which Kane Fitzgerald has officiated this season, the highest percentage for any referee in 2021-22.

Forsberg: There’s only one team that can stop the Celtics

The last time Foster was assigned to officiate a Celtics playoff matchup was Game 6 of the second-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks. But he was a late scratch from that game with a non-COVID illness.

Foster’s most recent Celtics matchup was their Game 1 loss to the Bucks. He also officiated Boston’s Game 4 and first-round clinching win over the Brooklyn Nets on the road. 

Tipoff for Celtics-Heat Game 4 is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET.