Richardson details the team's comeback mentality, Noah Penda's impact, and lessons learned from the Wizards defeat.
On the mentality of the bench group facing a large deficit:
"Just don't matter what the score is, we're going to come out there and play hard. A lot of those guys, Jett, me, Noah, we were all just waiting for our number to get called and when we know when our number gets called, we got to make plays and that's kind of what it was. Same thing in the Boston game. We had a large deficit. Our job was try to cut the lead."
On takeaways from the comeback effort for tomorrow and the rest of the season:
"I think the energy. We got to come out with that same energy that we had in the fourth quarter. It was pretty disappointing in my opinion. Just our energy or a lack of focus. It was just kind of disappointing because we just weren't playing the way that we normally play. So, it was kind of frustrating. So, we just got to carry over that energy that we had in the fourth quarter."
On whether the group ran out of gas after the comeback:
"I wouldn't say it was more out of gas. I think it was just us not taking care of what we were supposed to do in the first half. We shouldn't even be in a deficit like that. So, just taking care of what we got to do in the first half. But other than that, I think it was a really great effort from the guys that were in there, but we just got to be better in the first half."
On his relationship with Noah Penda:
"Man, it was special. Noah is a special player. He's going to come out, he's going to play hard, he's going to pick up 90-94 feet for somebody his size. That's really impressive. He's going to crash the glass. He's going to hit shots and he's going to get to the paint. So, Noah's like a brother to me already. We spend so much time together, and it's just amazing to see how he plays."
On what he likes most about Noah:
"I think his charisma. He's always upbeat. He's always excited, always happy. Even the games he doesn't get in, he's still one of the best teammates out there."
On handling back-to-backs and heavy road schedule:
"Just coming back well rested, honestly. I think we really got to take care of our bodies before we go to Brooklyn. Just get rested. Everybody gets their sleep when we get to the hotel and just get ready for tomorrow."
On his put-back dunk:
"Had a little bit of bounce, I guess. But I think for me just seeing that shot go up. I didn't see a lot of guys pay attention to me. You only really expect a 6-2 guy to go in there, try to go get a putback dunk. So, try to sneak my way in and it just perfectly fell into my hands and I was in the right spot, right time."