Josh Richardson Gives Brutally Honest Assessment Of Celtics After Strong First Half Vs. Suns

BOSTON (CBS) -- The sub-.500 Celtics entered Friday's matinee as underdogs at home against the Phoenix Suns. The Celtics then dominated the Suns in the first half, taking a 67-41 lead into halftime.

Such a performance against a team tied for the best record in the NBA is normally reason to feel good. But Josh Richardson wasn't exactly planning a parade while heading into the locker room.

Richardson was interviewed on the Celtics' broadcast by Abby Chin at the end of the second quarter, and the first-year Celtics guard/forward gave a brutally honest assessment of this year's team.

"I can't really comment on it. I just want to talk about it after the [second] half. Because uh ... we've got a history of some games of blowing leads," Richardson said. "So I'm not getting too happy about it. We'll talk about it in the locker room and come out locked in in the third quarter."

That has, of course, been an issue for Boston. Notably, the Celtics blew a big lead on Christmas Day to let a win slip away in Milwaukee. They also have the most losses in the clutch in the NBA this season.

While solving that problem requires more than just addressing it and focusing on it, Richardson's answer at least shows that the Celtics are taking the situation seriously.

And in this one, the Celtics ended up hanging on for the comfortable victory, winning 123-108.

Richardson was clearly a happy camper after that one.

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