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
When it came to scoring, which a lot of people have problems with, I really let him take that role. I took that secondary stuff.
Our second quarter we've really struggled the last few games. I don't know what's going on with that or why we've struggled. We have to figure it out. We had some success in that first quarter (in Minnesota), but again, we went away from it.
Maybe the 1 o'clock start helped us. Dirk and those guys didn't wake up until the second half.
We've really struggled in the second quarter the last couple games. (Tonight) we did OK in the first quarter, but then their bench comes in and we struggle. I'm not sure why, but we have to figure it out.
There's a lot of ups and downs to every playoff series. We didn't really get dominated. It was a game that was back and forth. They got (a questionable foul) call with 0.9 seconds to go that put them on the free throw line. That was the difference in the game, 0.9 seconds. So we weren't that far off.
My first three years here is all about team and having lots of players around me. So you had to learn how to maximize your few opportunities. I was never a volume shooter. You look at my second or third year, I shot about 50 percent from the floor.
I got it going in the second half. I just tried to keep playing through my teammates. They found me on some good looks. Honestly, our whole team had it going in the second half.
In the first half, especially the second quarter, we were not playing D the way we needed to.
We're getting there. Late in the game, when we needed shots and we needed stops, they were there.
We are getting there. You can't do it over one season. It takes a few seasons to get it done. He is in his prime, I am coming into mine. So it can really carry over.
We were a team that could turn it on and off. People say you can't do it, but we were that team. I'm not saying it was often, but something wasn't clicking. Our chemistry wasn't right. But when things got changed up, things changed a little more.
There is no doubt about it, both teams pride themselves on defense. It's not going to be a high-scoring game. It's going to be that type of series.
There are five or six teams that realistically have a chance to win the championship, and I definitely believe we're one of them.
There are five or six teams that can make it to the end. Nothing's changed.