Westbrook: Curry's 'nothing I haven't seen'

With his Oklahoma City Thunder set to tip off their Western Conference final against the Golden State Warriors on Monday night, Russell Westbrook is talking a big game.

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Asked about the prospect of defending point-guard counterpart (and reigning two-time MVP) Steph Curry, Westbrook was characteristically cavalier. Dismissive, even.

"He's a shooter," Westbrook said. "He's not nothing I haven't seen."

He then went on to compare the challenge of guarding Curry to that of guarding Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard, and other "guys like that" who can "shoot the basketball from four or five feet behind the three."

Leaving aside Westbrook's confusing triple-negative, this is a pretty brazen sentiment given the torment Curry has already put the Thunder through this season. In three meetings, all Warriors wins, Curry averaged 35 points and 6.7 assists, most notably hanging 46 on them in an overtime win that saw him tie the NBA record for made 3-pointers (12) on a game-winning 38-footer.

Not that the potentially classic series needed the bulletin-board material, but Westbrook should probably be ready to put his money where his mouth is as his matchup with Curry takes center stage.