For those who like to take trends into account when placing bets on sporting events, the RAngle (shorthand for referee angle) is usually worth considering.
Basically, the RAngle examines how games tend to turn out and tracks props like the over/under when a particular referee or official is working. Sometimes, there isn’t much of a trend or a takeaway. And sometimes, as is the case when NBA referee Scott Foster officiates a playoff game involving star point guard Chris Paul, the takeaway is huge.
Favored by close to double digits entering last night’s home game against the Pelicans after easily winning Game 1 of their first-round postseason series, the Phoenix Suns lost 125-114 to New Orleans. Some would probably blame the loss on Phoenix losing All-Star guard Devin Booker to a right hamstring injury in the third quarter after he’d already dropped 31 points. Others who are hip to the RAngle would chalk the loss up to Foster.
After last night’s game, Paul’s teams are 0-14 straight-up in the last 14 playoff games Foster has officiated. Across that span, CP3 has gone 0-4 with the Suns, 0-1 with the Thunder, 0-4 with the Rockets and 0-5 with the Clippers. Paul is also 2-17 overall in playoff games he has played in that Foster has officiated.
The streak is no secret as Paul acknowledged it following Phoenix’s Game 3 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs last year. “They’re shooting a lot of free throws. If I was a betting man, 11 games in a row,” Paul said after that game. “Eleven games in a row.” Since that game, Paul lost two Foster-officiated games in the NBA Finals, including Game 6 which clinched the championship for the Bucks, and last night’s contest to the Pelicans.
Paul finished with 17 points and 14 assists but shot just 5-of-16 from the field last night. He did lead the Suns in free-throw attempts with five but Phoenix (18) had fewer overall attempts from the line than New Orleans (20).
Remember the RAngle.
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