OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) \u2014 James Capers, Josh Tiven and Sean Wright joined a very small club on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Capers, Tiven and Wright were announced by the NBA as the officiating crew for Game 7 of the NBA Finals<\/a> between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers. It\u2019s the first Game 7 of a finals for all three, who are now the 22nd, 23rd and 24th referees in NBA history to land such an assignment.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing selected to work the NBA Finals is the top honor as an NBA official,\u201d Byron Spruell, the NBA\u2019s president of league operations, said earlier this month when the 12-person list of finals referees<\/a> was revealed.<\/p>\n And Game 7, one would think, is the top of the top honors.<\/p>\n Scott Foster, a two-time Game 7 finals referee and generally considered one of the best in the game, was not picked for the crew. Had he been, he would have become the seventh referee picked to work at least three Game 7s in the title series. The referees in NBA history who have worked that many are Mendy Rudolph (six), Earl Strom (five), Sid Borgia (four), Dan Crawford (three), Joe Crawford (three) and Richie Powers (three).<\/p>\n Foster \u2014 who is frequently criticized online by fans \u2014 was defended by Indiana coach Rick Carlisle after Game 4<\/a>, notable because it was a game that the Pacers lost.<\/p>\n \u201cAs far as officiating, I think it\u2019s awful some of the things I\u2019ve seen about the officiating, and Scott Foster in particular,\u201d Carlisle said before Game 5. \u201cI\u2019ve known Scott Foster for 30 years. He is a great official. He has done a great job in these playoffs. We\u2019ve had him a lot of times. The ridiculous scrutiny that is being thrown out there is terrible and unfair and unjust and stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n The NBA had 75 full-time officials this season and 36 of those were selected to work the first round of the playoffs. The officiating roster is further trimmed going into each playoff round, with the league\u2019s referee operations management team determining who should advance.<\/p>\n Capers is working his 13th finals, Tiven his sixth and Wright is in the finals for only the second time. It\u2019s the second game of these finals for all three referees \u2014 Capers worked Indiana\u2019s win in Game 3, while Wright and Tiven were both on the crew for Oklahoma City\u2019s win in Game 4.<\/p>\n James Williams, who worked Games 2 and 5 of the series, was picked as the alternate for Game 7. David Guthrie, who officiated Games 1 and 6, was the referee assigned to the replay center in Secaucus, New Jersey, for Game 7.<\/p>\n Thunder coach Mark Daigneault addressed officiating \u2014 and how he and his team respect referees \u2014 from a general perspective Saturday, when asked how his team has avoided being called for very many technical fouls<\/a> this season.<\/p>\n \u201cThe outcome of the game and the context of the game is outside of our control,\u201d Daigneault said. \u201cIn between the lines is inside our control. The referees (are) in that category, too. We can\u2019t control how they call the game and what they put a whistle on and what they don\u2019t. We can control a lot of other things in the game, and that\u2019s what we need to focus on.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n