Celtics-Cavs Game 4 Referees: Why You Should Expect Closer, High-Scoring Contest
The Boston Celtics, quite frankly, need to play better in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals. But if the Cleveland Cavaliers shoot like they did in Game 3, the C’s will need all the help they can get.
They may or may not get that help from the Game 4 officiating crew … depending on how you look at it.
The NBA announced the Celtics-Cavs game Monday night at Quicken Loans Arena will be reffed by Scott Foster, Bill Kennedy and Eric Lewis.
As pointed out by Sports Insights, Foster, Kennedy and Lewis all have historically been better for the road team — at least against the spread.
#Celtics at #Cavs
Game 4 Referees pic.twitter.com/368tIGlc9K— Action Labs (@ActionLabs_HQ) May 21, 2018
Here’s how home teams have fared against the spread this season with these refs on assignment.
Foster: 34-34-1
Kennedy: 31-33-2
Lewis: 33-30-1
However: Home teams were 124-79 straight-up (.611 win percentage) in games reffed by any of those three officials this season. That’s a fairly significant jump up from the league-wide .579 home winning percentage this season.
The Celtics are 7-point underdogs Monday night, so it’s far from a guarantee Boston escapes Cleveland with a 3-1 series lead, but it’s worth noting.
(Oh, also: If you’re into this kind of thing, Lewis had the most lopsided over/under record this season at 42-22 and Foster also was near the top, so over-206 might be a number worth monitoring.)
Then again, Celtics fans might remember Foster was part of the Game 4 crew last series against Philadelphia, and we all know how that went.
