Westbrook Point Shaving?

Wow, I just watched the Thunder/Knicks game. I don't know what the over/under was for this game, but, it looks like Westbrook was playing for the under! I doubt it's true, but this shootout was filled with wide-open missed shots. Anyone see that game?

Westbrook missed quite a few gimme shots, and refused to shoot on some others. This should have been a 130 to 141 scorefest, but both teams seemed to miss out on their easy opportunities! This is the first game in a long time where I wondered if the players were fixing the outcome or the scoring. It probably wasn't fixed, but it sure looked fixed. I haven't looked to see what the over/under line was in Vegas, but, it looks fixed for the under!

interesting...

Still, HIGHLY doubt that a player like Westbrook would be point shaving. There's simply no incentive, dudes making 16 Mil a year + endorsements, why would he risk that to make some walking around money fixing games? Almost all point shaving scandals involve players where the money they make for doing the fixing is comparable to or greater than the money they are making on the court/field.

I can easily see the refs being complicit though. When you really think about it, it would be shockingly easy to manipulate game over/under lines as an NBA referee and not raise suspicion.

Saint Louis wrote:

Wow, I just watched the Thunder/Knicks game. I don't know what the over/under was for this game, but, it looks like Westbrook was playing for the under! I doubt it's true, but this shootout was filled with wide-open missed shots. Anyone see that game?

Westbrook missed quite a few gimme shots, and refused to shoot on some others!

Obviously it was Mutang who paid him to score less so he could still have a chance to win vs me this week. I wonder if it was him who sprained Crawfords ankle as well.

Calgary Jazz wrote:

Saint Louis wrote:

Wow, I just watched the Thunder/Knicks game. I don't know what the over/under was for this game, but, it looks like Westbrook was playing for the under! I doubt it's true, but this shootout was filled with wide-open missed shots. Anyone see that game?

Westbrook missed quite a few gimme shots, and refused to shoot on some others!

Obviously it was Mutang who paid him to score less so he could still have a chance to win vs me this week. I wonder if it was him who sprained Crawfords ankle as well.

Hmmmm, valiant effort Calgary, valiant. And points for finally kinda having a sense of humor. But like taxes and death.....

TheMagnus wrote:

interesting...

Still, HIGHLY doubt that a player like Westbrook would be point shaving. There's simply no incentive, dudes making 16 Mil a year + endorsements, why would he risk that to make some walking around money fixing games? Almost all point shaving scandals involve players where the money they make for doing the fixing is comparable to or greater than the money they are making on the court/field.

I can easily see the refs being complicit though. When you really think about it, it would be shockingly easy to manipulate game over/under lines as an NBA referee and not raise suspicion.

I definitely agree about the refs, and, I'm sure that's something the league is looking at. I'm not sure the league is doing anything about that possibility (refs on the take), but, I'm sure they're looking at it to ensure it doesn't hurt the league. And, it's hard to imagine Vegas could stand to make enough money on an over/under to have them risk getting caught (let alone making it worthwhile so Westbrook would actually play a part). Still, did you see that game?