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BOBCATS 118, WARRIORS 109
Richardson dominates
his old team
Former Warrior's 42 points fuel Bobcats' 3rd straight win
RICK BONNELL
rbonnell@charlotteobserver.com
This was a do-over. The trick was to find that balance between caring enough and not caring too much.
It didn't work out so well the first time Jason Richardson faced his old team. He shot 2-of-9 against the Golden State Warriors in a perfectly miserable 31-point defeat.
So to make amends Wednesday at Bobcats Arena, Richardson was just about perfect, with 42 points, giving his Charlotte Bobcats a 118-109 victory against those same Warriors.
"It was a lot of adrenaline when I came back to Oakland," Richardson said of that Feb. 2 disaster the first time against the team that traded him to Charlotte in June. "Seeing all those 23 jerseys (replicas of his Warriors uniform in the stands) I got over-hyped.
"This time I just relaxed."
Relaxed is good: Richardson made 15-of-32 from the field and 5-of-12 from 3-point range. He was 7-of-7 from the foul line, where he sometimes lets his nerves show. All that carried the Bobcats (22-39) from an early 16-point deficit to their first three-game winning streak of the season.
Others did well, too: Raymond Felton had 22 points and six assists and rookie Jared Dudley came off the bench for 18 rebounds and 10 points.
But none of that matters if Richardson doesn't resurrect them from a 36-20 deficit late in the first quarter.
This circumstance -- a veteran coming to terms with the team that gave him up -- is a common one for a Bobcats roster 31/2 seasons removed from expansion.
"Pretty much like when I play Sacramento," said Gerald Wallace of his formative years with the Kings. "You might lose to them out there, but you don't want to lose at home, get swept."
Richardson said he felt no special pressure Wednesday, in part because he made peace with the trade months ago.
"This wasn't like a revenge game -- not anything personal," said Richardson, who still managed to come within two of tying his career high.
Richardson's last basket -- a post-up with just under three minutes left -- pushed the Bobcats' lead to five after the Warriors had pulled ahead by a point with 51/2 minutes left. Richardson played all 48 minutes, his coach never thinking about sitting him for a rest.
"J. and I have kind of gotten to a point where, if he's shooting the ball well and not tired, I listen to him," about not leaving the game, said coach Sam Vincent.
"I'm listening to my players."
