Russell Westbrook Out For Thunder vs. Clippers With Knee Injury

Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook remains out of the team's lineup for Friday night's game against the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center because of a knee injury. 

Royce Young of ESPN.com reported the update and provided further details about the star's possible return:

Westbrook is one of the NBA's most impactful players as he showed en route to winning the 2016-17 MVP Award and earning two All-NBA First Team selections. He's also a two-time scoring champion and the league's reigning assists leader, showcasing his across-the-board impact.

The 29-year-old UCLA product has remained mostly durable in recent years. He played at least 80 games in each of the past three seasons. He's missed the start of the current campaign while recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery.

For now, Dennis Schroder should again receive a lion's share of the playing time at the point. It could also lead to some extra minutes for Raymond Felton and Alex Abrines as part of the backcourt rotation.

Ultimately, Schroder is one of the NBA's best backup point guards, so the Thunder may be able to move forward without a massive drop off. That said, it will be impossible for the team to completely replace Westbrook given his wide-ranging involvement.