John Wall needs to win Game 7 against the Celtics tonight

The Celtics and Wizards square off in Game 7 of their 2^nd round playoff matchup against the Wizards. Even though the series is essentially deciding who will become chum to feed to the Cavs, it’s unquestionably the biggest night of John Wall’s career.

Although Colin has been critical of Wall in the past, he was impressed by him all year and would have voted him 4^th in the MVP race, ahead of Russell Westbrook. But, in the NBA, stars win playoff series. Although hitting the game winner in Game 6 had Wall fans celebrating in the Twitter streets, and prompted outraged viral video rants, it didn’t win the series.

What Wall does tonight will have far more of an impact on how he’s viewed as an NBA player. Superstars win second round Game 7’s, stars jump on the scorer’s table after a Game 6. When was the last time LeBron even lost a game in the second round? In perspective, it’s kind of ridiculous.

“If you want to be a superstar, this is the game to prove it.”

Stop making excuses for the Spurs after the Kawhi Leonard injury

The Spurs blew a 25-point lead after Kawhi Leonard went down after rolling his ankle on a questionable Zaza Pachulia closeout in the 3^rd quarter of Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against Golden State. San Antonio ended up losing 113-111, and almost immediately the excuses began pouring in on social media on behalf of the Spurs.

Colin isn’t buying it. He acknowledges that it was a blow to lose Leonard, but they were 8-1 this year without Leonard, and 14-4 over the last two. They just dusted the Rockets by 40 on the road without him. He also pointed out that when LeBron had to face the Warriors in the NBA Finals without Kyrie Irving or Kevin Love, no one made excuse for James.

The Spurs hallmark is organizational excellence. They’ve consistently shown the ability to win without Kawhi over a large sample period. Ultimately, the Spurs were going to lose the series with or without Leonard. No excuses.

“No excuses. You wouldn’t give LeBron one. Let’s not give Popovich one.”

Guests:

Eddie House – NBA Champion and 14-year NBA veteran is in-studio to talk about seeing a disastrous Criss Angel show; if he thought Zaza Pachulia’s Kawhi Leonard ankle roll was dirty; and why John Wall absolutely has to win tonight.

Peter King – Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The MMQB joins the show to explain why Seattle should sign Colin Kaepernick; why Paul Allen is one of the only owners to pull it off; why the Seahawks locker room has the unique ability to handle players speaking out; and why Tom Brady will never call himself the G.O.A.T.

Chris Broussard – FS1 NBA Insider is in-studio to discuss if Zaza Pachulia’s close out on Kawhi Leonard was dirty; why Popovich’s outrage over Pachulia is hypocritical; why he doesn’t think the play was dirty; and why tonight’s Game 7 won’t impact his opinion of John Wall.