The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Phoenix Suns 109-95 on Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.
After the fact, Suns guard Chris Paul suggested that a conspiracy involving referee Scott Foster might have played some role in the outcome.
“We have to try to limit their free throw attempts,” he said.
“They are shooting a lot of free throws, the last game … I mean, if I was a gambling man, 11 games in a row, 11 games in a row. We’ll see what happens: 11 in a row, 11 in a row is tough.”
The “11 games in a row” statement is in reference to the fact that Paul has lost 11 straight playoff games (over his time with four different teams) that Foster has officiated.
In Game 3 the Lakers shot 30 free throws compared to the Suns’ 18. That’s definitely pretty dramatic in terms of a differential.
Of course, what Paul conveniently ignores is that in Game 2 the free throw disparity was only 31-30 in favor of L.A.
It’s also worth mentioning that Paul has benefited from some pretty favorable officiating in this matchup with the Lakers. Back in Game 1, he participated in arguably the ugliest and most dangerous play of the entire series – only to walk away unpunished.
Paul’s teammate, Devin Booker, also experienced something similar.
As such, it’s probably a bit of a stretch on Paul’s part to argue that he is the victim of some overarching conspiracy.
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