Who are referees in Miami Heat vs Brooklyn Nets, OKC Thunder vs Golden State Warriors today (November 16 2023)

Early Thursday morning, the NBA released its referee assignments for the upcoming slate of games. There are only two games scheduled for November 16th, both of them being aired on national television.

First up on the docket is the Miami Heat taking on Mikal Bridges and the Brooklyn Nets. Jimmy Butler and company will be looking to keep their six-game winning streak alive, while the Nets are riding high after a blowout win against the Orlando Magic.

The referees for Heat vs. Thunder are Mitchell Ervin, JB DeRosa and Suyash Mehta. Ervin will serve as the crew chief for this matchup.

Following this matchup, the Golden State Warriors are taking on rookie sensation Chet Holmgren and the OKC Thunder. The Warriors will be without two key players as Steph Curry is battling a knee injury and Draymond Green begins his five-game suspension. As for the Thunder, they are riding high after a dominant victory over Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.

The referees on call for this matchup are Josh Tiven, Natalie Sago and Derek Richardson. Tiven will be the leader of this group as the assigned crew chief.

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How long have these referees been in the NBA?

Looking at the history of all of these refs, the OKC Thunder and Golden State Warriors find themselves with the more veteran crew. This is probably for the best given how things unfolded in their most recent matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Overall, the referee with the most experience of these six is Derek Richardson. He has been with the NBA for 27 seasons now. Despite officiating nearly 1,400 regular season games, he's only been picked for a playoff game one time.

After Richardson, Tivens is the ref with the most overall experience. The 2023-24 season marks his 14th with the NBA. He's officiated just under 800 regular season games in that time, along with 76 postseason matchups.

The official with the least experience in this group is Suyash Mehta. This year is just his fourth in the NBA, and he's only reffed 117 games prior to Thursday night.

Here is a full breakdown of the experience for each of the officials on the call on November 16th.

• Mitchell Ervin: ninth season, 430 regular season games, eight playoff games
• JB DeRosa: seventh season, 320 regular season games, five playoff games
• Suyash Mehta: fourth season, 117 regular season games, zero playoff games
• Josh Tivens: 14th season, 790 regular season games, 76 playoff games
• Natalie Sago: sixth season, 233 regular season games, zero playoff games
• Derek Richardson: 27th season, 1,388 regular season games, one playoff game