In sports, point shaving, is a certain type of match fixing where basketball or other sports players try to prevent a team from covering a published point spread. Spread betting usually motivates point shaving. The point shaving scheme usually involves a sports gambler and several players who are likely to win the game. In exchange for a bribe, the players agree to making sure the team they are on will not cover the point spread. The gamblers then wager against the bribed team.