SOURCE: NY Newsday

Of the 139 games officiated by Tim Donaghy during the past two NBA seasons, the opening point spread moved at least two points in 28 of them, or 20 percent, according to a source within the Nevada sports betting industry.

The trend, along with dramatic free-throw differentials in several of Donaghy's games, could provide important evidence to the NBA and federal authorities investigating whether the referee bet on games he officiated or furnished information to bettors as part of a possible point-shaving or game-fixing scandal.

Bookmakers pay close attention to the movement in betting lines because they often indicate that more money is being wagered on the team in whose favor the line moves. Two-point movements in NBA lines are common and can result from legitimate strategic factors such as the absence of a key player because of injury.

It is difficult to pinpoint any possible discrepancies in Donaghy's officiating without data kept only by the NBA on how many fouls he personally called - and, just as important, the players he called them against.

But games officiated by Donaghy, particularly those in which point-spread movements occurred, are under intense scrutiny as part of an FBI investigation of possible point-shaving headed by Eastern District federal prosecutors in Brooklyn. Law enforcement sources have told Newsday that Donaghy, 40, is expected to surrender to authorities as early as tomorrow or Wednesday.

The Knicks were involved in at least two of the games that raised a red flag for the gambling source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation.

When the Knicks hosted Miami on Feb. 26 this year, the opening line favored the Knicks by 3 and moved to 4.5. The Knicks shot 31 more free throws than Miami (39-8) and won 99-93.

On Jan. 2, 2006, Donaghy officiated the Phoenix-Knicks game at the Garden; the opening line favored the Suns by 6.5 and closed at 6. The Knicks enjoyed a 54-16 free-throw advantage - the largest of any game Donaghy officiated in the past two seasons - and won, 140-133, in triple overtime.

Those were among 16 games Donaghy officiated in 2005-06 and 2006-07 in which the home team shot at least 14 more free throws than the visitors, the source said. In five of those games, the home team shot at least 20 more free throws. Donaghy also officiated two games in which the visiting team enjoyed a free-throw advantage of at least 20.

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