The Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard and James Harden made it to the NBA All-Star voting

LOS ANGELES, CA— Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers surprised a lot of people when they were able to pull off the red-hot Milwaukee Bucks thanks to massive scoring from the James Harden and Norman Powell.

Winners of eight of their previous nine games, Milwaukee climbed all the way to fourth in the Eastern Conference with a 25-17 record after starting the year just 2-8.

Clippers stars Kawhi Leonard, James Harden on NBA All-Star voting

The Clippers handed the Bucks their 18th loss of the season, 127-117, on Saturday night. James Harden finished with 40 points, five rebounds and nine assists while shooting 12 of 24 from the field and 12 of 12 from the free throw line. LA improved to a perfect 13-0 when Harden attempted at least 10 free throws this season.

Norman Powell also scored 33 points with six rebounds and three steals on 11-of-23 shooting from the field. The Clippers improved to 22-8 — a .733 winning percentage — when Powell scored at least 18 points in a game this season.

Kawhi Leonard was again limited to just 24 minutes of action, finishing with 18 points, three rebounds and four assists on 8-of-17 shooting from the field. Despite not having Leonard in the final 16 minutes of the game, the Clippers were able to overcome Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard in large part because of Harden and Powell.

“(James Harden) and (Norman Powell) closing out that game was special,” Kawhi Leonard said of watching his potential All-Star teammates lead the team to victory. “It was great, very special.” They accept the challenge, they get to their places. They made it look easy.”

Antetokounmpo had 36 points and 13 rebounds, while Damian Lillard finished with a triple-double with 29 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. The two Milwaukee Bucks stars attempted more free throws (32) than everyone else in the game combined.

At this stage, who has more reason to be named an NBA All-Star? That was really hard to predict.

“They’ve played great all year,” Kawhi Leonard added. “There’s a lot of politics involved.” I am not sure if they will give us two players. I hope he will. They played at a high level.

In an exclusive interview with ClutchPoints, Clippers guard Norman Powell said he fully believes he is an NBA All-Star this season.

“I think I played at an All-Star level all season,” Norman Powell told ClutchPoints in an exclusive interview leading up to the All-Star announcement. “Honestly, I don’t like to talk about myself, but I mean, the numbers don’t lie in where I am, what I’m averaging, what I’m doing overall, and then the efficiency that I’m playing with.”

“I see myself as an All-Star, I want to be an All-Star, and I think I am.”

James Harden didn’t slander, but he also chose not to host the NBA All-Star for himself.

“That would mean a lot,” James Harden explained. “I think it would be my 10th or 11th. Just being one of the top 24 players in this league, I feel like I deserve it, but I’m not going to campaign for myself. I just go there, put the work in and that’s what it is.

“We are, what five or the first six?” (Norm) shoots the ball at a high clip, leading our team in scoring. And there you are. Someone has to succeed. Like, we put in the work and put ourselves in a really good position. It is out of our control. The people who have decided and vote, vote. For us, I think we’re just focused on continuing to win these games, because we have a bigger goal than the All-Star Game.”

In 42 appearances this season, James Harden is averaging 21.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 39.7 percent from the field and 34.4 percent from three. . Harden is one of only three players in the West to average at least 20 points, five rebounds and eight assists. The 10-time NBA All-Star had three 40-point games this season and another with 39 points and 11 assists.

Norman Powell is averaging 23.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.3 steals and 3.5 three-pointers per game on 49 percent shooting from the field and 43.1 percent from three. Powell has scored 20+ points in 28 of the 37 games he has played this season.

The Clippers’ leading scorer has also scored in double figures in the quarter 32 different times this season. According to Stathead, that’s 16th among players this season, just behind guys like Kevin Durant (33), Damian Lillard (34), LaMelo Ball (34) and Donovan Mitchell (37). That’s also ahead of guys like Jaylen Brown (29), De’Aaron Fox (29), Trae Young (29), Cade Cunningham (29) and LeBron James (28).

The league will announce the reserves on Thursday, January 30 in a special NBA telecast on TNT. Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers hope to call the names of James Harden and Norman Powell.