The Josh Innes Show - More NBA Excitement And A Bet For Tonight

Episode Date: May 7, 2025

I know many of you dislike the NBA, but the playoffs continue to be a blast. I've got a rock solid bet for tonights Knicks/Celtics game. I'm not one to judge anyone for what they watch. If you don't like basketball you don't like it. I'm sure everyone has reasons. That said, if you've got nothing going on, watch Denver/OKC Game 2 tonight. This isn't the stale, stand around and shoot 3's bball people loathe. How sad was the Popovich press conference? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We had another epic basketball game yesterday. Great game with the Pacers game. That was fun. And it looked like the Cavs despite missing three players were going to be able to get a home win, get the series back to even and go to Indy. But Tyrese Halliburton, who is one of those guys who I dislike and it's inexplicable as to why I dislike him. I just do. There's something about the look of Tyrese Halliburton that I dislike. Maybe it really annoyed me after he hit a big shot against the Bucks. I think it was, you know, they won the series against the Bucks and he started yapping about how people called him overrated and he was named like the most

overrated player in the league by other players and it's kind of like, I hate when people do one thing and then it's like oh I'm overrated now well I mean there's more than one game in a season like cool you made you made a big play like a lot of people like there are people like Aaron Gordon hit a game-winning shot against Oklahoma City the other day it's not like Aaron Gordon is an exponentially better player today because Aaron Gordon made one shot, right? It was also annoying that the dude's dad ran on the court and was talking shit to Giannis. Like, everything about Indiana just feels just poverty-ish, you know? Like, by the way, I love the city of Indianapolis. It's a lovely place. I've now been there one time, and it was last year I went to the Texans Colts game,

and I think Indianapolis is a great, fun little town that I like a lot. The downtown still has stuff in it which is really rare. Like you go to downtown St. Louis and there ain't shit. You're like well what am I doing down here other than trying to not die. Indianapolis had some cool stuff, some nice steak houses, some very cool bars, football stadium, a football team that doesn't play in the UFL. So it was pretty cool. But there's just something about the Pacers, something about the Pacers annoy me, and the Pacers fans annoy me. Just something about them that I dislike. But then last

night, talk about a way to end a basketball game. They're down for a lot of the game. They rally again. I think they were down seven with 40 something seconds again for the second consecutive or the second playoff game in their last three. They're down by seven with like 40 seconds to go. They get Halliburton to the line, makes the first free throw, misses the second. They're down three, so they're going to have to foul, but they get the rebound. Homeboy just backs it out himself, buries the game-winning three. Like, give the guy credit. He fucking made the plays man. And now the Pacers. Like the thing

about that both the Cavs and Oklahoma City and I've said this all year and it's there's no real way to quantify it or no real way to tell you why I feel this way. But there's something about when I watch the NBA and there are certain teams and you just see their name and you're like, you know, they're not going to win the title despite how good their record is. Like I don't believe the Cavaliers were going to win the title and now they're not. I don't believe Oklahoma City is going to win the title. They're down

1-0. Now their series could change. They play again tonight. But it's not like I watched them. Like, I never felt Oklahoma City was a playoff basketball team. I felt they were a regular season basketball team, right? Now you're kind of watching the teams that are left and you're looking for teams that kind of have a veteran or somebody and then you start circling like the the teams like Golden State who I didn't think was any good either, but like they got the veteran presence in there, you know, so I don't fucking know, man. It's crazy, but as far as the NBA goes, great finish to

that game last night. Second game was god-awful. I watched some documentary on Netflix instead, but as I've told you, the NBA playoff games have been fun, they've been exciting. The game sevens have sucked, but the series overall have been great. There have been great games, game winners, with the exception of the Boston game, which was embarrassing shooting 63s. But let's actually go there, because I think that there's a betting opportunity with the exception of the Boston game which was embarrassing shooting 63s but let's actually go there because I think that there's a betting opportunity with the Celtics now because the Celtics were embarrassed and blew a 20-point lead and and shot a ridiculous number of threes and I know why they do it like

that's the reason teams shoot so many threes is it's a math equation type of deal you shoot more threes there's more I get all that but I think there's a math equation type of deal, you shoot more threes, there's more, I get all that. But I think there's a play for them tonight so let's do that here in just a second. All right, it's the playoffs, basketball playoffs right now and there is no better way to try to make a couple of bucks by putting your knowledge of hoops to the test than using pick six from DraftKings. You can turn that hoops knowledge into real cash and it's better than prize picks flex plays bigger payouts than prize picks flex plays so why not give it a shot? I use it, Jilly uses it. Let me tell you when she's hanging out and she's building these things she's a wizard. I would text her I would send her a DM and be like hey who do I play on on the pick six

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you should bet this type of shit for basketball. That's more of a football thing that I do. However, tonight we have got two interesting ones. You've got the Thunder and the Nuggets. They play the later game. By the way, the Thunder is still a 10-point favorite despite losing game one. They are such an overvalued basketball team because of the dumb like just because of the fact that they dominated the regular season. They've never been there before this team is full of young dudes. Many of them have very little experience in the postseason. You saw what happens when you get veteran type ball clubs

dudes that got men like look the Nuggets have been a mess all year and they fired their coach right before the playoff started. They fired a championship winning coach. What have they done since then? Oh, I don't know. They eliminated the Clippers who everybody was dick riding, myself included. They eliminated them in seven. Then they go to Oklahoma City less than 48 hours after playing a game seven against the Clippers. They go into Oklahoma City who's been off for a week plus and they go and they beat them on the last shot of the game and they

shut them down down the stretch in the game. That's what veterans that have been there before know how to do. This isn't difficult. Now is Oklahoma City going to lose the series? I don't know. They may bounce back. They probably are going to win tonight. They are still a 10-point favorite, but the one thing that's really been a factor if you're a gambler in these series is the the underdog has been a huge play. Like I've seen people on DraftKings that have made plays

where they took the two underdogs. They took the Knicks to beat the Celtics and they took the Pacers to beat the whoever the other game one was the other day. I guess it would have been the Pacers. No, who was the game one the other day? I guess it would have been the Nuggets No, who was the game one the other day? I guess it would have been the Nuggets. They took the Nuggets to beat Oklahoma City and they beat the Knicks to beat the Celtics. And there was huge value in that. The point spreads are still

bonkers in these. They're anticipating game two bouncebacks from the Thunder and the Celtics. The Celtics would make more sense because the Celtics have been there before they have veteran players and they're going to decide, hey, we're not going to shoot 60 fucking terrible threes today and actually run an offense and try to get the ball to the basket. They're going to keep shooting threes. They're going to shoot more than 40 some odd threes, probably 50 threes. They need to be better

looks at three. But just think about this. These two teams are down one nothing. They are still 10 plus point favorites in these games. That said, Celtics tonight, and maybe I'm a sucker here, but I do this with the Celtics all the time, the Celtics are back up to 111.5, and if there's ever a time the Celtics are just going to maul somebody, it would be tonight. Mind you, they were up 20 points on the Knicks in the third quarter and then couldn't hit a fucking shot. Look, they're a team that's going to shoot a ton of threes anyway. They're not going to shoot

63s again tonight. They are also a team that on a given night can hit 23s. Also, they made 15 threes in that game. That is not the league average. They are above the league average in that. Most teams are going to hit 10, 11, 12 threes in a game. Still 15s a lot. They're a team that's more than capable of hitting 18 threes. If they cut that down and actually move the ball, like I think there was a point in the game the other night where 19 of their 20 third quarter shots were three-pointers. It's like, it's almost like they were like fucking with the Knicks. It's like they went into that game thinking, oh who the fuck cares, we're up 20. And then before you know it,

they lose the game. Tonight they bounce back. Do I think they're going to go out and win by 11? They very well might. They were up 20. Again, they were up 20. What do they do if they get up 20 in this one? I like over 111 and a half for the Celtics tonight. I think they're going to score. And I all, this is the same thing I did last game. And I'm going to do it again. And if the Celtics wouldn't have been total dipshits, it would have hit But I'm gonna go with Oklahoma City's team over which is 120 and a half

I might take that down if you want to build a play You could probably take that down a couple points even if you're gonna parlay the two of them and still get good value But particularly I really like the Celtics, the way they lost that game. Like Oklahoma City lost in a shitty way, but that was a tight game at least the whole way, six, seven, eight points. You were up 20. People are mocking you for the dumb shit you were doing shooting the ball. It's one thing to take a lot of threes, which is fine. This is a league where people take three-pointers now. Teams take a ton of threes. This is the way the league is now, and I'm fine with the way the league is now. If you want to shoot

a bunch of threes, I'm not against it, mostly because I like to make bets on draft kings, for instance. You can take the total number of threes a team makes in a game or the teams combined for in a game, build a parlay with those throughout a couple games and it's fun. I like to root for teams to shoot threes, right? But that game was difficult to watch. Like that game, game one, was the game you'd circle. If you're old school dude that hates current basketball and your argument is all they do is shoot threes and there's no movement, there's no offense,

there's no cuts, there's nothing. Like that game was like watching a rec league game where dudes just get the ball, shoot from wherever and don't give a shit. There was no offense. I mean, it felt like there were no screens. It was a lot of hero ball. It was a lot of Jason Tatum one-on-one dribbling the clock out shooting threes. It was hideous. There's no way they do that. Like I think their coach is pretty good. He coached a terrible game. They were awful in the last, I don't know, 15 to 20 minutes of that game.

awful in the last, I don't know, 15 to 20 minutes of that game. Tonight, I think they bounce back in a big way. And I think they're going over 111.5. That would be my favorite basketball play of the night, my favorite play of the night overall. I'm looking at Celtics over 111.5. The Knicks defense is not good. They've been bad most of the year. Mind you, against a good defensive team like Orlando, that's all they had to put their hat on or hang their hat on was their defense. Good defensive team. They were still getting to a point where, you know, they

were getting to 105, 106 against a good defensive team in Orlando. The Knicks are not a good defensive team, and the Celtics were embarrassed in game one. They're not going to shoot 63s again and if they hit 15 of say 50 that looks a lot better than 15 of 60, 15 of 45, whatever, 17 of 45, whatever. They're going to shoot. That's their offense. They're not going to abandon what they do. But when they're really humming they're getting it, transition, finding spot up in the corner for an open three. When they're really humming, they're able to move the ball, penetrate, dish, open three, and not just settle on contested threes that are off of the dribble.

Like that's not, when they're at their best, that is not who they are. And I think tonight they might hang 120. I think tonight from the jump, they're at home. There's a pressure that comes with playing in Boston. This isn't like Oklahoma City where these dweebs are going to come out and support you anyway. Like and they're going to say you did it and you know, try hard like Boston's going to hold you accountable and I think they're

going to come out and hoop tonight. Speaking of Oklahoma City. I would say that the shirts the fans were wearing in game one that were the same kind of color scheme as the uniforms the dudes were wearing? That was an elite t-shirt, like that's a free t-shirt. Usually the free t-shirt is, all right we're all wearing red tonight, so it's a red shirt, it's a two color, it's a red shirt, white lettering, and it has the the playoff motto on it, playoffs 2025, let's get this or whatever. on it, playoffs 2025, let's get this or whatever. Dude, those are pretty sweet fucking shirts. Rarely do you see the free shirt in the arena having like popping colors like that. It's very rare. So good job Oklahoma City. But if you're like, let me put it this way. This is not a

challenge by the way. I'm not trying to be some fucking asshole. If you don't want to watch basketball, don't watch basketball. If you've been completely turned off by the style of play in the NBA, fine, I'm not going to judge you for it. If you hate the fact that the NBA players are super duper woke, at least they were in the past, and if, dude, I'm off, do what you do, watch what you watch, do what you dig. I don't care. But if you are someone who is on the fence about basketball and you're just kind of like, If you are someone who is on the fence about basketball and you're just kind of like, I don't know, man. I've been turned off by it. Used to watch when Kobe played. Used to watch when Joy. It just doesn't do it for me. I will challenge you this. I believe that you're going to continue to have tight games with Oklahoma City and Denver.

And even like you can watch a team like Oklahoma City. They'll score 120 a night like in their sleep. They can score 130 in their sleep. But they'll also D up hard and they do it in a fun way. The way Oklahoma City plays offense is not a stagnant shoot a bunch of threes. They're not a three point shooting offense. They can hit some. That's not their bread and butter. You know they do everything. You've got guys like Shea who can take it to the rack but also hits the mid-range jumper. You got Caruso

who I despise but Caruso dees dudes up hard and just lock dudes up on the perimeter. Dort who can hit threes but Dort is another great three-and-D, a solid defender. Like they'll play defense and they'll get out and transition and they'll run and they'll dunk on your ass. Then you got Hartenstein that can knock down that little push shot in the lane. Like they do different types of shit that are fun to watch. So I hate Oklahoma City, but when they're cooking,

their offense is fun. Then you got the juxtaposition of kind of working around the Joker. The Joker had fucking 40 and 20 the other night. Like what? Like if you are someone who is like, I don't like the NBA, try watching that. If you still hate it, you hate it, right? But like, if you're just looking for something to watch tonight and you're like, I'll give it a shot, I would watch the Oklahoma City and Denver game.

As if nothing else, like you got Joker who's won, what, three MVPs, they're a team that's won a title. You got a team that's trying to prove that they can compete to win titles I think it's fun, dude Like give that a watch like I get it if your local team sucks and you don't like them That's cool. And I think there is an issue where It's the NBA's fault. They created this world But it was exacerbated by the clay Travis's of the world that got rich off of like people taking need during anthems and people protesting. Can you believe these people hate

America? Then you throw in the Popovich's who tell you that if you're a Trump or you're a dipshit and the Steve Kurrs and I get where like you don't want to reward those people if you are one of the people they've criticized and I felt the same way. I dislike Popovich and I dislike Kurr, but I've enjoyed watching the games and really rhetoric and political shit has really kind of gone out the window at the NBA. You very rarely hear about it. Now you might say, you know, they've damaged themselves beyond repair for me and that's fine. But if you're going to watch a basketball game, watch Denver tonight. And I also think that again, 111 and a half, I'm taking the over. I think the Celtics could score 120 tonight. This just

feels like a day they've been embarrassed and they're going to go out and they're going to hoop man. Speaking of Popovich, how sad was that press conference the other day? Like what are they doing? Like this dude should just retire. Like I understand it's easy for me to say that but like dude, retire and let them have a new generation of something. They got your interim coach coaching who's probably someone you have control over anyway. Dude look like he could

barely walk. What are we doing? You know, and by the way, and this is the little thing that people don't want to say about the Spurs and Popovich, they've sucked for the last decade. So like look, that's not to take away from what the dude's done because if you think about the fact that the guy won five titles in what? He started in in 96 their last title was in 2013 and they've won five correct so that means in about uh let's see from 14 to 30 so you're talking about in about 17 18 years dude won five titles that's bonkers problem is he's coached another 10 years and the team has sucked for another 10 years. What that

organization should be doing, and I know it's easier said than done, it's hard to do when you're the only organization in town, you're the only thing people care about there, and oh by the way, you've had a coach for 30 years that's a legend, and no one's ever going to do what he did again. So it's hard. And I'm trying to think of other examples where it's hard to just tell someone look you gotta go. I think it happens more so in college than it happens in pro sports like guys don't hang around.

Belichick is sort of like that but like that thing had already kind of fallen off a cliff and there was drama and like it's a different world and that's Boston and you're talking San Antonio, smaller market, the only game in town, dude oh by the way has won five titles for you and then you know he had a stroke which makes it even more difficult to just fire the guy. They were never going to fire the guy, they will always give the guy the chance to leave but they've sucked for about a decade. Like there are stretches where they're barely competitive so I don't know man.

It's hard. It's not an easy thing to do when you've got a legendary figure and you've got to run that legendary figure off. The thing is in this era, you don't get guys that stay around 30 years to become legendary figures to run off. And in some cases people are ready for them to leave or split like if you go to Pittsburgh, I'm sure there are people split on Mike

Tomlin because Mike Tomlin can't win shit in the postseason. And Mike Tomlin is I think now the longest tenured head coach in the NFL. But that split, I would imagine that most people in San Antonio are like, we love pop, what are we going to do? You know, those don't really exist anymore. Like people were split on Belichick. People got sick of, you know, I mean, by the way, those were disastrous years with Belichick. People got sick of, I mean, by the way, those were disastrous years with Belichick without Brady. So it's a tough one. I'm trying to

think of better examples, but these guys just don't stay around that long anymore. So you don't give them the opportunity to run you out because you don't stay around that long anymore. But anyway, they should have found a way to do this before the guy had the stroke. Really, it's his demise happened in the era of Trump. I think dude was just wrecked by Trump. Anyway, more to come.