"Oh my god. It's him again": Warriors fans fear the worst as James Williams assigned to ref game 3 against Rockets

The officiating crew for Saturday's Game 3 showdown between the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets has been announced. In a decision that Golden State fans seem to dread, James Williams has been named as the crew chief for that game.

Per an X (formerly Twitter) account - @ctrainstation - the Warriors went 0-5 in games where Williams was officiating.

Golden State fans are up in arms regarding this decision, with a few suggesting that the league is conspiring against their team.

Some fans shared their grim predictions for the Warriors, while one suggested a devious plot to prevent Williams from officiating.

The Warriors vs. Rockets series is tied 1-1 entering Game 3. Golden State won Game 1 - 95-85 - thanks to 56 points from Steph Curry (31) and Jimmy Butler (25).

Jalen Green scored 38 points and Alperen Sengun contributed a double-double (17 points and 16 rebounds) in Game 2 to help Houston even the series.

The Warriors have won more games than they've lost with James Williams as the official referee

Based on the data, Golden State Warriors fans might not have to dread anything with referee James Williams. Per Basketball Reference, Williams has been part of the officiating crew in 60 Golden State regular-season games. Of these 60 games, Golden State has won 39 contests — a 65 percent win rate.

This also extends to the postseason. Williams has been an official in seven Golden State playoff games. Out of these seven, Golden State has only lost one.

An account @WarriorsMuse - on X (formerly Twitter) - shared a list of the playoff games that this referee officiated, along with their results. The only loss recorded was Game 1 against the Boston Celtics in 2022.

James Williams has been an official since the 2009-10 season. Since then, he's officiated in 886 regular-season games. The first time he refereed in the postseason was in 2015 and he went on to officiate 66 playoff games.

Williams officiated 55 regular-season games for the Houston Rockets during his career. The Rockets are 33-22 in these contests. He's also only been an official in one Houston postseason game before Game 3 on Saturday, and it resulted in a Rockets win.

About the author

Miguel is a basketball writer at Sportskeeda with an overall experience of 7 years. A lover of the sport owing to its mental aspect, he has played it throughout high school and college as a power forward and small forward, and has also coached high school and college basketball teams. These experiences have given him a unique perspective on the game, which translates into insightful content.

For Miguel, the San Antonio Spurs, especially during the Tim Duncan era, were the embodiment of team basketball. He respects Gregg Popovich's empathy toward his players and his understanding of the game. The Spurs' titles, Kobe Bryant's poignant "Dear Basketball" tribute, Derrick Rose's remarkable 50-point game with Minnesota and Magic Johnson's remarkable comeback are among Miguel's top basketball moments.

For his articles, he conducts thorough research, cross verifies information with at least three sources, and sometimes sacrifices speed for accuracy. Content simplification and maintaining a neutral view on topics are his strengths.

Miguel follows other sports, particularly the NFL, and when not working he enjoys hobbies like cooking and playing video games.

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