November 8, 2024

Zach Zarba is the crew chief for Celtics-Warriors Game 6

Zarba #Zarba

BOSTON — Buckle up, Celtics fans. Zach Zarba is the crew chief for Thursday night’s must-win Game 6 against the Golden State Warriors.

Get ready for a lot of reviews, followed by long-winded explanations. Not to mention a lot of missed calls and bad calls in general.

Zarba isn’t really a “fixer” along the lines of Scott Foster. And he doesn’t appear to have a grudge against the Celtics like Tony Brothers. But he isn’t really that good at his job, inserting himself way too much into the game.

The Celtics are 11-10 overall in the playoffs when Zarba is part of the ref crew, though Boston is just 1-4 in games that he’s been a part of this postseason. The last game that he officiated was Game 2 against the Warriors, a blowout loss for the C’s in San Francisco.

He was also part of the crews during Game 3 against the Bucks, and Games 1 and 6 against the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals — all Boston losses. The only game that the Celtics have won with Zarba on the floor was their very first game of the postseason, when Boston won at the buzzer against the Brooklyn Nets.

That doesn’t exactly bode well with Boston facing a must-win situation in Game 6 at TD Garden. But with their backs against the wall, the Celtics shouldn’t focus on anything they can’t control. If they lock down on defense and take care of the basketball — not to mention hit some shots in the fourth quarter — the Celtics can force a Game 7.

But if they get too caught up in what’s going on with the officials, complaining after every no-call and losing focus on everything else, they’ll be in serious trouble. It’s hard to ignore a guy like Zarba when he’s on the floor, but the Celtics need to focus on themselves more than anything else on Thursday night.

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