Celtics Wizards Reaction, Spurs v. Warriors Pick

Welcome to the Truda Report everybody. Today I'll be giving my reaction to last night's Game 7 match up between the Celtics and the Wizards, as well as my prediction for the Spurs Warriors series. Be sure to follow my Instagram @thetrudareport for updates on when I post new articles.

Update on my picks:
Games: 26-10
Series: 10-2

Washington Wizards @ Boston Celtics:
I don't know who kidnapped Kelly Olynyk and replaced him with the ghost of Larry Birds past, but boy do the Celtics owe him one. That performance was incredible. Not only did Olynyk shoot 10-14 from the field (71.4%), 14 of his 26 points came in clutch time, a.k.a. the fourth quarter. He really stepped up for Boston, and he deserves all of the credit in the world for his contribution last night.

Due to Olynyk's outburst, Isaiah Thomas, who I think was the best player on the court last night, isn't getting as much attention as he should. He led the Celtics with 29 points and 12 assists, showing it's not only his shooting that wins games, it's his decision making. If there was such a thing as Playoffs MVP, Isaiah Thomas would win my vote. Last night solidified that for me. He came up clutch with multiple big shots during the last 12 minutes, and he played with the poise of a superstar. I think he deserves way more praise than he has been given today.

On the Wizards side of things, what I said had to happen for them to win clearly didn't occur. I said yesterday that if Bradley Beal was going to be the one to lead the game in scoring, then John Wall would have to have 20+ points and about 15 assists. Beal led everyone in the scoring category with 38 points, but Wall didn't hold up his end of the deal posting only 18 points and 11 assists. John Wall went cold in the fourth quarter too, not scoring a single point. If we are going to peg Chris Paul for his teams failures, and peg James Harden for not showing up in Game 6 against the Spurs, then we have to say something about Wall. This should hurt his stock for a while.

I've heard a lot of people saying it's not John Wall's fault today though, complaining that the team's bench was anemic. I totally agree that the bench is to blame for the teams loss, because when 7 players come of the bench and only one of them scores (Bojan Bogdanovic 5 points), there is clearly an issue with the players surrounding the teams stars. The problem I have though, is that it wasn't just the bench that didn't show up. John Wall didn't play well either, and since he is the best player on the team, he is the one to blame for the loss.

San Antonio Spurs @ Golden State Warriors:
I haven't made my prediction for this series yet, and as a disclaimer, Kawhi Leonard's ankle injury has changed my pick. My pick now is the Warriors in a 4 game sweep, but before that, I had the Dubs in 5. I know one game isn't a huge difference, but in this case, being swept and winning one is enough of a discrepancy for me. I think without Kawhi San Antonio stands no chance, and I feel like it's pretty self explanatory why. The Warriors, one of the best offensive teams ever, is playing a team that just lost a player that just lost its best defender, who is also their best offensive player. Not to mention, the Warriors are consistently a top 7 defensive team in the league as well, so that also helps their case. I chose the Warriors to win in a sweep so obviously, I'm taking them to win Game 2 tonight in Oracle Arena. Lets see if the Spurs can prove me wrong.