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Fans never particularly liked NBA officials, but social media was furious with the officiating in Game 4.
This morning, the NBA announced the crew for Game 5.
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Who will be officiating Game 5 of the NBA Finals?
According to NBA.com, Game 5 will be officiated by John Goble, Marc Davis and James Williams.
These are the following positions for each referee:
- John Goble - Crew Chief
- Marc Davis - Referee
- James Williams - Umpire
- Ben Taylor - Alternate
As a crew chief this postseason, Goble has reffed four games.
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The home team has won half of those games, and there have been 47.3 fouls per game called when he is the crew chief (4th most this postseason for a ref in a specific role).
The home team has won just two out of five games this postseason when Marc Davis is a crew member.
As a chief, the home team only has won two out of eight games.
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The home team point differential for when Davis is a crew member is only 2.4 points, so the games tend to be close.
James Williams has reffed all eight games this postseason as a crew member, where the home team has also won half of the games.
Only 38 fouls per game have been called in those contests, indicating more physicality being allowed.
Game 4 showed us that the series is beginning to get intense, with teams making sacrifices in must-win games and moments.
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The stats slightly favor the Pacers in Game 5, but the records from the games Williams and Goble have reffed this postseason show that they can officiate a fairly even game.
This could be very beneficial for a Game 5 that has massive implications for the series.
OKC hosts Indiana Monday night, as one team will go back to Indiana up 3-2.
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