Scott Foster and All Officials Assigned to Conference Finals in 2025 NBA Playoffs
The NBA announced on Monday the 20 officials and four alternate referees who will work the Eastern and Western Conference Finals during the 2025-26 playoffs.
The Western Conference Finals open on Tuesday night in Oklahoma City between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Thunder (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), while the Eastern Conference Finals will begin on Wednesday evening at Madison Square Garden between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks (8 p.m. ET, TNT).
It's an experienced group of officials. Nine of the referees working the conference finals (Foster, Davis, Brothers, Capers, Zarba, Kennedy, Malloy, Goble, Guthrie) had already worked over 100 playoff games coming into this year's postseason.
According to an NBA press release in April, "Playoff officials are selected by the NBA Referee Operations management team based on three specific criteria assessed throughout the season: NBA Referee Operations grades and rankings, play-calling accuracy and team rankings. Officials will be evaluated after each round of the playoffs to determine advancement in the 2025 postseason."
The NBA assigned 36 referees for the first round of the playoffs and 28 officials for the second round.
The remaining pool of referees will oversee an intriguing pair of conference finals matchups, with the Thunder, Timberwolves and Pacers all seeking to stay alive in their quest to win the first NBA title in their franchise's history. The Knicks, meanwhile, haven't won a title since the 1972-73 season.
The Thunder were expected to reach this far after earning the top overall seed in the postseason following a 68-14 regular season. The rest of the field has been a touch more unexpected, however—the Knicks were the No. 3 seed in the East, the Pacers the No. 4 seed in the East and Minny the No. 6 seed in the West.
