Richmond Has His Own All-Star Game : Pro basketball: His 40 points help Warriors run over Clippers, 135-119.

Mitch Richmond had his 40 points and called it a night, not a vendetta. “This was no retaliation to show people what they might have missed,” he said.

In the first game since he was passed over for a spot on the Western Conference All-Star team, Richmond scored more points than in any game this season; and had more steals, seven, than in any game in his career. But given repeated attempts to espouse revenge against those who voted against him, the former rookie of the year said his play in the Golden State Warriors’ 135-119 victory over the Clippers Thursday night at Oakland Coliseum was the important thing, not the fact that he won’t be playing in a couple of Sundays.

Others weren’t so sure.

“He had a terrific game, which I kind of expected,” said Clipper Coach Mike Schuler, a Warrior assistant the past two seasons. “I’m sure he’s crushed and devastated at not making the All-Star team. I’m sure he’ll go on a mission now to try and prove a lot of people wrong.”

This was a good start. Doing most of his damage on the first half, Richmond became the second player in as many games and the third since Jan. 10 to score 40 or more points against the Clippers. Chris Mullin complemented that effort with 32 points, and Tim Hardaway added 24 points and 12 assists.

“This was my best overall game,” Richmond said. “Not only offensively, but I played great defense, hit the boards and got some steals. It seemed like everything was going into my hands.”

Or out of the Clippers’. They had 27 turnovers, the most since Dec. 30, to offset 53.1% shooting.

In losing for the fourth time in five games, the Clippers got as close as 104-101 on Jeff Martin’s dunk with 7:36 to play. From there, however, Golden State regained control with seven consecutive points to make it 111-101, which extended into a 13-4 run that was capped by two three-point jump shots by Rod Higgins on consecutive possessions. The second made it 117-105 with 5:02 remaining.

Richmond’s attempt to hide his disappointment over not being named to the All-Star team was short-lived. His delayed-reaction proclamation was that he wouldn’t even watch the Feb. 10 game from Charlotte, N.C., on TV--later recanted as to not appear that he wasn’t supporting teammates Mullin and Hardaway--and that if tabbed as a late replacement in case of injury that “I’m not going unless it’s in my contract.”

His great play, however, had started before the All-Star lineups were announced, though being spurned wasn’t bad for added motivation. In the 10 games before Thursday, of which the Warriors had won eight, Richmond averaged a team-leading 29.4 points and 6.6 rebounds and shot 58.9%.

By halftime of the Clipper game, those numbers seemed a bit tame. Richmond opened six for 10 in the first quarter for 16 of Golden State’s 38 points and followed that with four for five in the second quarter for another 10 points. He had 26 points by halftime and a career-high six steals in the second quarter.

The Warriors rode that to a series of double-digit cushions--the largest at 15 on three occasions--and a 71-62 lead at halftime. It took the Clippers’ finishing with an 8-2 run to get that close.

But Richmond had only two points in the third quarter, and Golden State down-shifted right with him. The Warriors scored 26 points in the period but had only one basket in their final nine possessions, that coming on Higgins’ layup with 1:33 left.

That allowed the Clippers, looking to break an eight-game losing streak here, to make a game of it. Scoring 30 points in the quarter, they trailed, 97-92, heading into the fourth.

Clipper Notes

For the second time in four years, an assistant coach will be working in the All-Star game the season after being fired as head coach of the Clippers. In 1988, Don Chaney went to Chicago with Atlanta’s Mike Fratello, and when Boston recently clinched the best record in the Eastern Conference going into the break, Chris Ford earned the honor, bringing Don Casey along. . . . The Warriors after the game signed reserve center Paul Mokeski for the remainder of the season after his second 10-day contract had expired. . . . Alton Lister, Golden State’s starting center, missed the entire second half after spraining his ankle.