Richard Jefferson
Richard Jefferson
Richard Allen Jeffersonis an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association. He was a member of the United States men's national basketball team at the 2003 Tournament of the Americas and the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics, and won the NBA championship as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth21 June 1980
CityLos Angeles, CA
CountryUnited States of America
We would drive and kick it to guys with wide-open looks but couldn't get anything to fall. For the most part we played good defense, but you have to be near perfect on the defensive end to have a chance the way we were shooting.
You give them credit. They played good defense. Some shots didn't fall down for us. Fortunately, it's not the best-of-1.
He's been playing well for them all year. He's a guys who's been experienced for them, he's played in the NBA Finals, so a first-round playoff game, there's not so much pressure on him to perform.
We played against one of the top two or three teams in the league. We beat some very, very good teams during the streak. Now we have to try and continue our home dominance.
He's the epitome of a professional. He brings a lot of confidence out on the floor, even if he hasn't played for awhile. It's reassuring knowing you have someone like that on the team.
It's always your move next. What are you going to do to make an adjustment to our counter? What are you going to do now that we have played this type of lineup? It's all about trying to find an advantage, especially with two evenly matched teams.
Realistically, I haven't played well since I came back. Nobody plays perfect in this league but I haven't played a good game since I got back. Tonight it was turnovers and missed free throws. I need to figure this out if I'm going to help our team.
There are about five or six teams that realistically have a chance of winning a championship. I definitely think we're one of them.
We were the last team to beat them in the Eastern Conference. We still have confidence against this team.
We understand that this next game is going to be the hardest one of the series.
You have to get it done in the playoffs before people talk about what you accomplished.
You got to want it more than them. When the ball got loose, I thought I might have gotten fouled but I am not going to look around, I am not going to complain. I am going to grab that ball and keep going until they call it. We had more of that tonight.
Everybody was to blame. You have a chance to win on the road, and the last 10 possessions, you don't get many stops. That's what it comes down to. Forget everything that happened the first 40 minutes of the game. The last 10, 15 possessions, that really determines how this game adds up.
You can't do that (stuff) on the road. You can't get yourself down on the road and think you're going to get the benefit of the doubt on calls. You can't think that.