Steph Curry looks ready to go for Game 4, practicing with the Warriors Friday morning before taking on the Celtics in Boston.
Without trying to read too much into external factors that could impact the Warriors’ most important game of the season to date, the referee assignments for Friday’s Game 4 of the NBA Finals don’t look good for Golden State as it tries to even up the series against the Boston Celtics.
Well, one referee in particular.
Eric Lewis is among the referees for Game 4, which should make the Celtics very happy. Boston is 15-1 in games officiated by Lewis dating back to 2020, according to the NBA Ref Stats Twitter account.
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Lewis, who has officiated over 1,000 regular season games in 17 seasons, has officiated five previous Finals games. His first experience was in the 2019 NBA Finals between the Warriors and Toronto Raptors. Lewis officiated two games in both the 2020 and 2021 NBA Finals.
James Capers is the crew chief for Game 4, and the third referee is Kane Fitzgerald, who also has some notoriety among Warriors fans.
Related: Draymond has epic staredown with ref after fouling out
Fitzgerald infamously ejected Draymond Green during Game 1 of the second round against the Memphis Grizzlies, assessing a Flagrant 2 foul on Green on what was a controversial call after Green pulled Brandon Clarke to the ground.
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The Warriors won that game -- and the series against the Grizzlies despite the questionable officiating.
They’ll hope to overcome the refereeing odds again in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday.