December 27, 2016
On December 27 of last year, Miami fell short 106-94 to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
To jog your memory a bit, that was the day Josh McRoberts was ruled out indefinitely, again, with a stress fracture in his left foot.
The Heat were also without Luke Babbitt and Dion Waiters, who was still recovering from a torn Pectineus muscle in his groin. But most important was the fact that Goran Dragic too was sidelined, with lingering back spasms.
So it was up to Richardson to step up in his place.
And despite the final score, he did exactly that.
Finishing the night with 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field, the young buck was the team’s leading scorer. He also managed to grab five rebounds, dish out three assists and catch one steal.
Tying a career-high isn’t too shabby, especially when it’s against a guy like Russell Westbrook.
"“He’s competing until the very end,” head coach Spoelstra said of Westbrook, following the game. “Every single possession is the most important possession to him. Great, great lesson … from somebody’s that is really imposing a competitive will on every contest. He did what he does. What defines greatness is consistency, and that’s what you can book pretty much every night.”"
It was games like this that proved the sophomore’s potential, and showed how valuable of a teammate he could be when tasked with more responsibility. He got out of his head and led the team in an honorable effort.