Your quote of the day (OK, fine, he said it on Wednesday) comes from Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul, talking about Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook, via the Los Angeles Times: "You could put him on the court with the Bad News Bears, and he's going to be ready to play."
He said this in advance of the Clippers' season opener against the depleted Thunder, which will take place at 10:30 p.m. ET on Thursday on TNT. Oklahoma City had its first game on Wednesday in Portland, where Westbrook dropped 38 points on 11-for-26 shooting in a 106-89 loss. He was as aggressive as you'd hope for and as exciting as ever.
The Thunder's bench currently consists of Sebastian Telfair, Lance Thomas, Nick Collison and Kendrick Perkins, with Andre Roberson and Perry Jones serving as the starting wings. Westbrook carried his team for the majority of the opener, but the Blazers outscored OKC 31-12 in the fourth quarter. Jones, Telfair and Collison shot a combined 3-for-23 from the field.
Paul is right that Westbrook is going to be a handful regardless of who's out there with him, and this dynamic might actually make the Thunder more interesting than normal in the short term. Against a team with depth like the Clippers, though, it's going to be difficult for Oklahoma City to stay close.
(HT: ESPN's Royce Young)
