NBA Ref Scott Foster: Scottie Barnes Ejected for Questioning Integrity of Officiating

NBA referee Scott Foster said Scottie Barnes questioned the integrity of the officiating prior to his ejection in the fourth quarter of the Toronto Raptors' 118-113 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Monday.

In the pool report after the game, Foster said Barnes' ejection stemmed from using "verbiage that which directly questioned the integrity of the crew."

The ejection came late in the fourth quarter after Aaron Gordon was fouled by Jakob Poeltl. Foster was going to the scorer's table to signal who the foul was on when he turned back to Barnes and assessed him a technical foul and tossed him from the game.

Speaking to reporters after the game, Barnes seemed confused about why he was ejected: "I guess they were just mad. I don't know."

Barnes also told reporters he was talking to himself, not the officials, when the ejection occurred. It was the first time the 21-year-old has been tossed from a game in his NBA career.

Raptors head coach Nick Nurse agreed with Barnes, saying after the game "there was nothing there" that prompted the technical foul or ejection.

Foster does have a reputation around the NBA among fans, players and analysts as difficult to work with. He was voted the worst referee in the league in a 2016 survey of 36 players conducted by Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.

Fans have openly lamented or celebrated Foster being assigned to playoff games, depending on which team they root for.

The league could rescind Barnes' technical foul after reviewing footage of the incident if they deem the punishment unwarranted.

It's hard to say Barnes' ejection cost Toronto the game. It was already trailing by two points when Gordon was going to the free-throw line for two shots after being fouled by Poeltl. He made both of his attempts to extend the lead to 117-113 with 28.1 seconds remaining.

The Raptors went scoreless for the final 1:08 of the fourth quarter after Fred Van Vleet made two free throws to give his team a 113-112 lead.

Barnes finished the game with 12 points and nine rebounds in 34 minutes. The reigning NBA Rookie of the Year has scored fewer than 20 points in each of his last eight games.

The loss dropped Toronto's record to 32-34 overall, but it remains in ninth place in the Eastern Conference standings. The team is currently the conference's ninth seed and is only 0.5 games behind the Atlanta Hawks for No. 8.