I wish I could be confident about these refs. The Celtics are 5-11 and the Heat are 12-4 this season with these 3 refs. And two of them officiated games 1 and 2 in Miami, which were very badly called. Hopefully with the spotlight on the officiating in this series, they will call it fairly in this one.
Official Report
Danny Crawford
11 playoff games as main official
Home team win % of 63.6%
39.6 fouls called per game
49.2% of the fouls are called on the home team
1.2 technicals called per game
Entering his 27th NBA season, Dan Crawford has officiated 1,770 regular season and 256 playoff games, including 25 NBA Finals games. During his NBA tenure, Crawford has officiated the 1994 and 2001 NBA All-Star Games, and the 1992 Japan Games in Yokohama. Prior to joining the NBA, Crawford spent four years officiating in the CBA. He has eight years of collegiate officiating experience and officiated the 1983 and 1984 National Junior College Nationals. Crawford has been honored for his achievements in the Northeastern (Ill.) Wall of Fame. Crawford was a member of the Northeastern University basketball team. After one of the Celtics playoff games in Chicago in round 1 in 2008, there was some controversy when he was seen leaving the arena with his family all decked out in Chicago Bulls gear. He's been in the news lately because he has been accused of having a bias against Marc Cuban because the Mavs were 2-16 in games officiated by Crawford last season and Cuban has been very vocal about it. The Celtics are 1-5 this season and are 3-7 over their last 10 games with Crawford officiating. One loss this season was the Celtics only loss vs Miami in which the Heat shot 8 more free throws than the Celtics. The second loss was to he Knicks where NY shot 17 free throws to 34 for the Celtics. The third loss was the 1 point loss in game 5 in Atlanta where the Celtics shot 15 free throws to 14 for the Hawks and the officiating was pretty good and they let them play on both sides. The 4th loss was game 2 in the Philly series. The Celtics shot 9 free throws to 21 for the Sixers. With 10 seconds to go, they called an offensive foul on KG for setting a screen. They let them play for 3 quarters and then tightened the calls up on the Celtics. The fifth loss was game 1 vs the Heat where the Heat shot 23 free throws to 21 for the Celtics. The win was over New Jersey where the Nets shot 10 free throws to 21 for the Celtics. The Heat are 6-2 this season and 7-3 over their last 10 games. His home W/L record is 37-26 this season.
Tony Brothers
9 playoff games as crew official
Home team win % of 77.8%
42.6 fouls called per game
50.1% of the fouls are called on the home team
1.4 technicals called per game
Brothers is entering his 18th season as an NBA official and has officiated 1,040 regular season games and 50 playoff games during his career. He was a member of the crew that officiated the 1996 Mexico Challenge, 1998 Schick Rookie Game, 1999 McDonald’s Championship in Milan, Italy and the 2008 China Games. Prior to joining the NBA, Brothers spent four years officiating in the CBA, including three CBA Finals and a CBA All-Star Game. He has one year of collegiate officiating experience at the Junior College level. Brothers also has seven years of high school officiating experience in Virginia, including three state tournaments. There are several articles about what a terrible ref Brothers is and detailing his misdeeds. He has angered a lot of fans of just about every team because of bad calls, no calls, and one sided officiating. The Celtics are 3-2 this season and 5-5 in their last 10 games with Brothers on the court. One loss this season was to the Pistons in which the Celtics took 32 free throws to 29 for the Pistons. The other loss was to the Kings and both teams shot 21 free throws. One win came against Philadelphia where the Sixers shot 24 free throws to 19 for the Celtics. The second win was game 4 vs the Hawks and the Celtics shot 13 free throws to 17 for the Hawks. The 3rd win was Game 7 vs Philly in which the Celtics took 22 free throws to 20 for the Sixers. All of the games were pretty well officiated with no blatant bias or terrible calls. The Heat are 2-1 this season and 7-3 with Brothers in their last 10. His home W/L record this season is 37-25.
Tom Washington
9 playoff games as crew official
Home team win % of 66.7%
45.9 fouls called per game
48.4% of the fouls are called on the home team
0.0 technicals called per game
Over his 20-season NBA officiating career, Tom Washington has officiated 1,196+ regular season games, 103 playoff games and two Finals games. He was a member of the crew that officiated the 1995 Schick Rookie Game, the 1996 Japan Games in Tokyo and the 2004 NBA All-Star Game. In addition to his 20 seasons with the NBA, Washington has two years of CBA officiating experience. He has one year collegiate officiating experience and five years of high school officiating experience in his hometown of Philadelphia. The Celtics are 1-4 this season with Washington on the court. One loss was the Pacer game where the Celtics were called for 24 fouls compared to 18 for the Pacers. Another loss was to the Pistons where Detroit shot 46 free throws to 15 for the Celtics, Rondo was ejected, and Tommy Heinsohn called it the worst officiated game all season (are you cringing yet?). The next loss was game 5 vs Atlanta where they let them play and the Celtics shot 15 free throws to 14 for the Hawks. The final loss was the debacle in game 2 vs the Heat. The Heat shot 47 free throws to 29 for the Celtics, in spite of the Celtics attacking the basket all night. There were bad calls throughout the 4th quarter and OT. The missed call where Wade hit Rondo on the head leading to a Heat layup was one of the worst. Pierce, Pietrus, and Dooling all fouled out. LeBron was given 24 free throws himself. The win was the 87-56 Orlando beat down in which the Celtics took 19 free throws to 30 for the Magic. They are 6-4 over their last 10 games with Washington. The Heat are 4-1 this season and 9-1 over their last 10 games with Washington on the court. His home W/L record this season is 40-21.