FanHouse Ken Mauer

Objectively speaking, the referees haven't been much of a factor in this series, and that's how it's supposed to be.

I'm sure some fans in Orlando will disagree -- what about Pau's goaltending? Or Kobe's elbow? Those are two isolated incidents that might have warranted a whistle, but for the most part, the Lakers have gone up 3-1 despite the referees, not because of them.

Consider: the Magic attempted 18 free throws in the fourth quarter and overtime in Game 4 before the Lakers attempted one -- and the only reason the Lakers made a single trip to the line was because Mickael Pietrus committed a flagrant foul in the final seconds.

It's a post-game tradition among NBA fans to talk about the officiating -- but why wait until the game is over? Before each game of the NBA Finals, we'll take a close look at the crew assigned to the game to see if there's any trends that bear watching. Tonight's crew: Dan Crawford (pictured, talking with Stan Van Gundy), Joe DeRosa and Ken Mauer.

At first glance, having Crawford and Mauer on the floor is a good omen for the Lakers: over the course of the regular season, those two rank among the top 11 most homer-friendly refs in the league. DeRosa may even things out for the Magic, though; only one other referee favored the road team more than him.

The Suns cruised to a surprisingly easy win over the Pistons, but it wasn't all fun and games. Shaquille O'Neal was ejected in the second quarter after the referees ruled that this take down of Rodney Stuckey was a foul of the flagrant two variety.



The rule book states that for a flagrant two to be called, the contact has to be both unnecessary and excessive. It was a hard foul, but I don't know how excessive it was. I think a flagrant one was in order, sure. But to me, that wasn't the type of foul that deserved the automatic ejection.

After the jump, referee Ken Mauer explains the reasoning behind the call.