Watch throwback James Harden drop 40 on Bucks, spark Clippers win

LOS ANGELES — James Harden wants to be an All-Star again — he made his case Saturday night.

A vintage Harden drops 40 points on an excellent Bucks defense, breaks them down, gets into the paint, hits stepback 3s and gets to the foul line all game.

“It would mean a lot, you know?” Harden said he might be selected as an All-Star reserve by the coaches (he was not named a starter). “I think it would be my 10th or 11th (Note: It would be his 11th) and just be one of the 24 best players in this league. I feel like I deserve it, but I not going to go on a campaign for myself. I’m just going out here and putting in the work and that’s what it is.”

Harden made his case by leading the Clippers to a 127-117 victory that snapped the Bucks’ five-game winning streak. Despite that, he is a longshot to be named an All-Star reserve (which is selected by a vote of the coaches, those selections will be announced Thursday). The West is very deep with quality guards, as evidenced by the fact that Harden finished seventh in the All-Star starter voting.

That doesn’t mean the respect of his peers has faded.

“You have a group of guys in the league right now that are on the top 75 list,” Damian Lillard said. “And I think in the era that we’re in right now, you got people on the Internet and people in the media and people on TV that they don’t watch games. They just throw stuff out and they talk bad about players and they make it look like guys can’t get it done anymore.

“And I think tonight, you see a guy like James come out and you see he’s able to get 40, make plays, still make fouls, still hit threes off the dribble, get in the paint . That’s a reason why he’s one of the best players to play the game, and you have to respect that and just understand that he’s capable of playing that kind of game.”

He had one of those games Saturday night, and the Bucks paid the price.