Last year when this news first broke, it was Henry Abbott’s interview at True Hoop that delineated how good Tim Donaghy was at fixing games. To refresh your memory, 15 out of 15 times the point spread moved by at least 1.5 points in a sportsbook for a Donaghy-reffed game, the way the spread moved was the team that won. OK, so that gives you a good idea how easy it is for a crook ref like Donaghy to manipulate a game. Anyway, I’m not sure if you’ve seen this or not, but I haven’t, so that’s why I’ll share it here. Via True Hoop’s intrepid digging once again, we have the following fixed games as pointed out by the sports betting pro :
I can say with a large degree of certainty that this game was one of the more blatant fixes. That Phoenix vs. New York game was a game that I was told was bet by the crew associated with [alleged Donaghy co-conspirator James “Baa Baa”] Batista, it was also a game where Phoenix shot 14 free throws in regulation and New York shot 36.
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Here are couple of other Tim Donaghy games that may make for some interesting viewing. Miami at New York on February 26, 2007. There was a 39 to eight free throw disparity in that one.Tim Donaghy refereed a 2003 Knicks at Lakers game that had a 47 to six free throw disparity.
In a 2006 Orlando at Utah game refereed by Tim Donaghy, there were two technicals called against Orlando in the final two seconds of the game.
Nothing too new — you knew already that Donaghy bet on games he reffed and that Donaghy says some past playoff series were fixed. But those were examples of fixed games, as picked out by a gambling expert. Seems pretty similar to Game 2 between the Lakers and Celtics, no? What was the free throw disparity again, 38-10? Ho-hum, nothing to see here. Of course, this wouldn’t be the first time visual evidence were made of Donaghy’s scummy moves.
