L.A. Clippers vs. OKC Thunder: Who Has the Deeper Bench?

It's a potential Western Conference playoffs preview on Monday night as the Los Angeles Clippers host the Oklahoma City Thunder.

This will be the fourth and final meeting between the two squads, with the Clips winning two out of three so far.

We know all about the stars dotting the starting lineups of both teams. In fact, 60 percent of the Western Conference's All-Star starting lineup—Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin and Chris Paul—will be featured in this game, with reserve All-Star Russell Westbrook partaking as well.

With so much star power among the starters, you can imagine the opposing starting fives cancel each other out. So let's turn our attention to the benches. Who's got the better bench? Click through to find out.

Point Guards

For the Clippers, Eric Bledsoe is an electric athlete. Physically, he's like a smaller version of OKC's Westbrook. That's pretty much where the similarities end.

Bledsoe is almost a liability on offense. He shoots under 40 percent from the field, under 25 percent from three and under 70 percent from the line. He also turns the ball over at an alarming rate and makes a lot of questionable decisions for the short time he's out there.

Defense is where Bledsoe shines. His elite quickness and athleticism make him a nightmare for opposing guards. He racks up steals and is the rare point guard who can be a weakside shot-blocking threat. Plus, he leads all point guards in offensive rebound rate and is second in total rebound rate.

The Thunder have the opposite approach when it comes to their backup point guard. Derek Fisher is only on the court in order to space the floor. He can no longer penetrate and dish, but he does make good decisions out there and provides veteran leadership.

Fisher lost all ability to defend at least four years ago, so even Eric Bledsoe can light him up on that end of the floor.

Edge: PUSH

Wings

Mo Williams has spent the majority of his career as a point guard, but he plays more as a scoring combo guard for the Clippers. Oftentimes he's the third guard on the floor for the Clips, and he provides a scoring spark for the team with his streaky long-range shooting.

Nick Young is the other wing that the Clippers dole out minutes to off the bench. Young is a pure scorer who's sole purpose on the court is to get buckets, but unfortunately he has not looked the least bit comfortable on the court in L.A.

James Harden is not only a versatile weapon off the Thunder bench, he's currently running away with the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award. Harden can score in numerous ways, and few wing players are better in pick-and-roll situations. What makes Harden even more valuable is his ability to run the second-unit offense and distribute the ball to his teammates.

Daequan Cook is another floor-spacer that OKC brings off the bench. When he has it going it's impossible to help off of him as a defender and he can really open the floor up for the Thunder's scorers.

Edge: Thunder

Bigs

Kenyon Martin and Reggie Evans bring toughness and grit, especially on the defensive end of the floor.

While Evans is an outstanding rebounder, he contributes nothing offensively.

Martin can hit the occasional jumper and clean up around the rim. He's a solid big off the bench and can finish games for the Clippers too.

Oklahoma City features underrated big Nick Collison off the bench. Collison doesn't wow you with his box scores, but he more than makes up for it with intangibles and doing all the little things it takes to win a game. It's no wonder that the Thunder are 5.6 points per 100 possessions better with him on the court than when he's off it.

The Thunder also have veteran big man Nazr Mohammed coming off the bench. Mohammed brings some championship experience to the squad and can put up double figures in points every now and then too.

Slight Edge: Thunder

Final Verdict

The deeper bench has to go to the Thunder. They have the likely Sixth Man of the Year in Harden and one of the most underrated big men in the game in Collison.

Add to that their collection of shooters and added size in Mohammed and it's no wonder they have outscored the Clippers bench in all three meetings this season.