The Miami Heat fell short 116-110 to the Washington Wizards on Saturday night, but overall, Josh Richardson is still a positive on the season.
Welcome to another edition of Miami Heat Game Day Observations. Today, we will look at how Josh Richardson performed in Saturday’s 116-110 loss at home, to the Washington Wizards.
First Quarter
Richardson nails a 3 on this first attempt of the game, in the face of one John Wall; now he has made trey in every game this season.
Sheesh.
But he’s not just a sharp-shooter, as demonstrated by his nice pass to the cutting and returning Goran Dragic (despite the fact that he missed), and board off an Otto Porter missed corner 3.
He also is slowly learning how to be better at drawing contact (more than likely from Dwyane Wade). The swingman makes Bradley Beal pick up his second foul, and makes both free throws.
The 3’s continue too, after being given some rest in the form of a Tyler Johnson substitution.
Richardson ends the quarter with nine points, two rebounds and one assist, having been active and aggressive on both ends of the court.
Second Quarter
The fourth-year is ready to get his teammates fired up; he dribbles the ball baseline and finds an open Johnson for a clean 3.
Swoosh.
He’s also back with his elite defense, as Austin Rivers misses 3-pointer, and Richardson grabs the rebound.
He shakes off his first foul, a call for pushing off Kelly Oubre Jr. And continues to dish out assists and drain his one shots.
A struggling Dragic enters for him around 7:52, but four minutes later, Richardson is back to help get Miami back on track
He finishes the half with 11 points, three rebounds and three assists.
Third Quarter
In typical Heat fashion, things start to unwind in the third quarter.
Richardson’s running lane shot is blocked from behind by Beal, after which Wall scores on him with a nice floating jumper in the paint.
Still, he’s managing to do some damage; his assist gives Rodney McGruder a 3 and then he drives past Porter for a successful layup,
The swingman now has 14 points, three rebounds and five assists. It’s time for the Heat to close this one out, and Richardson is just the man for the job.
Fourth Quarter
Unfortunately, things are starting to unravel as Wall drives past him (again), and throws an alley oop to Jeff Green (again).
Then, Richardson tries to lean in on Oubre as he shoots to draw the foul, but no call is made, and the missed shot goes to waste.
Speaking of calls… a questionable one is made in regards to supposed contact on Beal during a layup attempt, and now Richardson is pissed. He only gets more frustrated after seemingly rolling his ankle on River’s leg, too.
And so starts the beginning of the end.
Richardson finishes the night with 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field, alongside rive rebounds and three assists.
Another loss for the Heat, who are now 0-2 in their shiny new Vice Nights jerseys.
Miami takes on the Philadelphia 76ers tonight, at 7:30 PM ET.