List of Refs for Heat vs Nuggets Game 2 Tonight (Zach Zarba Headlines Experienced Crew in Denver)

Sunday's NBA Playoffs slate features Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets. With the Larry O'Brien Trophy up for grabs, fans from both sides are hoping for a fairly officiated game tonight.

Here's everything you need to know about the refs for Game 2 of Heat-Nuggets.

Heat vs Nuggets Game 2 Referees

The three officials assigned to work Sunday's matchup between the Heat and Nuggets are Zach Zarba (#15, crew chief), John Goble (#10, referee), and Courtney Kirkland (#61, umpire). Tyler Ford (#39) will be the emergency alternate in case a last-minute replacement is needed.

Josh Tiven, meanwhile, will be in the Secaucus-based Replay Center for tonight's playoff game.

Looking at Zarba's postseason track record, he doesn't tend to favor one team over the other. The home team is 7-5 in his 12 playoff games as a crew chief and his foul calls are nearly identical for both sides. The average point total for those games is 227.2, which is notably higher than the projected total of 216 points for tonight's game on FanDuel Sportsbook's NBA odds.

Here's a breakdown of the betting stats from games Zarba has officiated this season:

Goble and Kirkland bring some postseason experience to the table as well with each man having reffed at least eight games in the 2022-23 playoffs. The home team has emerged victorious in 12 of their 19 combined contests, while Goble's 11 games alone have seen an average of 216.1 points.

Accordingly, we could see a high-scoring Nuggets win tonight based on the NBA officiating crew.

NBA Playoffs Refs

A total of 12 referees have been selected to work the NBA Finals. This group is headlined by veterans Scott Foster (16th Finals), Tony Brothers (12th Finals) and Marc Davis (12th Finals). There are also two alternates available if needed. They are Tyler Ford and Ben Taylor.

Check out the full list of referees working the NBA Finals between the Heat and Nuggets below:

• Scott Foster
• Tony Brothers
• Marc Davis
• Zach Zarba
• Ed Malloy
• John Goble
• David Guthrie
• Bill Kennedy
• Josh Tiven
• James Williams
• Courtney Kirkland
• Kevin Scott

Larry Rupp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Larry Rupp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username phillyfan424. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel. 

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