While the NBA season may be too young to accurately gauge the top 5 NBA over officials, it's not too hard to figure out which refs have a tendency toward topping the total by looking at the first three weeks in relation to their whistle-blowing pasts.
The front-runners for over honors so far this season are no newcomers to overseeing high-scoring games. The fact that they tend to lean toward ''letting 'em play'' is no coincidence, but a pattern of their past.
Just as some players and coaches prefer the wide-open game, refs are only human and some hold the same views of how the game should be played.
Here are the top 5 over NBA refs so far this season, and most have a lot more high-scoring history than just a handful of games:
Pat Fraher (7-1)
Currently in his ninth NBA season, Fraher has not had a losing record against the over the since his rookie year in 2001-02, and it was meager two games under .500.
Ever since, the University of Minnesota grad has called more overs than unders every year, a whopping 56 games above .500 for his career (267-211).
Fraher is off to an even hotter start this year with seven of eight games going over the total for an average score of 212.6 points per game. He is 2-0 in games with a total of 205 or higher.
Bennett Salvatore (7-2)
Salvatore may be one of the NBA's more senior officials, but an old ref doesn't necessarily equal a proponent of old-school basketball.
Currently in his 27th season, Salvatore has been known as an over ref for as far back as our records go, which is not quite half of his NBA career. However, in those 13 seasons, Salvatore has only had three seasons in which he called more unders than overs.
This season appears to be holding to form. Salvatore is 5-1 in games with a total of 195 or more for an average score of 205.9 per game. You can't teach an old ref new tricks.
Olandis Poole (7-3)
This former college and D-League official has a history of favoring the over and this season appears to be no different.
Currently in his seventh season in the NBA, Poole is 29 games above .500 on the over (165-136) for his career. Only twice in his seven years has he overseen more unders than overs, and those were by only one game each season.
Poole is hitting the over again this season with seven of his nine games surpassing the total, and the bigger the number the better. Poole is 6-0 on the over when the total is 194 or higher with an average score per game of 215 points, the most among all NBA refs this year.
Mike Callahan (7-3)
Coincidentally, ''Duke'' Callahan is the only official to make the top 5 over and homer refs lists so far this season, perhaps a surprise for a 17-year NBA veteran with Finals experience.
But not if you've kept up with his calls. Callahan developed his reputation for letting them play as a young referee in the CBA and has held pretty close to that philosphy ever since. Although records don't go back to his first few seasons, he is close to .500 in regards to the total throughout his career.
But any questions about Callahan's officiating philosophy were answered last season when he allowed the Blazers to score two points against the Celtics despite having six players on the court. He even cited a little-known rule to justify the non-call.
So far this season Callahan is 5-1 in games with a total of 195 or more with an average game score of 211.7.
Ed Malloy (7-3)
As a Cardinal O'Hare (Pa.) high school graduate like fellow NBA refs Joey Crawford and Callahan, the Villanova grad has traditionally been considered one of the top under refs during his tenure.
But not in this, his eighth NBA season, when seven of his nine games have gone over the total for an average score of 200.9 per game.
That average is significantly lower than the other top 5 over refs, so the jury may still be out as to whether he has undergone some sort of philosophical transformation in his officiating. Or perhaps the books have gotten wise to his tendency to go under.
Either way, his track record (209-231) against the total make it too early to proclaim him a scoreboard-lighting convert yet.
Editor’s note: This list was originally compiled on Friday. Since then Phil Robinson has crept into the top 5 over officials. You can find all of our referee stats here.