Study Finds Raptors Have Played Among the Fewest Games in Front Of League's Best Refs This Year

The Toronto Raptors rarely play games in front of the NBA's best referees, a new study says

Aaron Rose | Mar 11, 2022

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Maybe there's a reason it always seems like Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse is ready to blow a gasket on the sideline.

A new study by Tom Haberstroh and the Basketball Illuminati has found that Toronto ranks near the bottom of the league in average referee quality. Only the Orlando Magic, Washington Wizards, Houston Rockets, and Cleveland Cavaliers have played fewer games in front of the league's best referees this season.

👁️THREAD: The NBA assigns its best, most-experienced referees to the Lakers and Warriors. Worst-caliber refs: Magic.

The league almost never puts rookie referees on Lakers, Sixers and Knicks games.

I'll explain the simple way I calculated Ref Rating. (1/x) #basketballilluminati pic.twitter.com/27LLGct6b2
— Mr. Statistician Face Man (@tomhaberstroh) March 4, 2022

The study looked at the experience of each crew, how many rookie referees each team received, and how many times a team received a referee from the 2021 NBA Finals.

Unsurprisingly, the best referees have gone to the most popular teams this year including the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers who rank first and second respectively in the rankings. The league also prioritizes nationally televised games, ensuring the best referees are refereeing the biggest games.

That's one of the big reasons Toronto is way down in the rankings. The Raptors rarely play in nationally televised games and don't play the Warriors or Lakers very often.

Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn have received the best referees of any Eastern Conference teams this season and rank third, fourth, and fifth, respectively, in the league.

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