Thunder’s Russell Westbrook presents a big challenge for Clippers

The Clippers have seen the show, and what a spectacle it has been to witness the Russell Westbrook assault.

He’ll appear next right here in L.A. with his Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night at Staples Center, and Westbrook alone will present a challenge to a Clippers defense that has been on point in the first three games.

Westbrook has been a virtual solo act for the Thunder in the first three games, his averaging of a triple-double with a league-leading 38.7 points per game, 11.7 assists and 12.3 rebounds an astounding feat.

When he dropped 51 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in a win over Phoenix, it was the NBA’s first triple-double with 50 points since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975.

Westbrook is the first player to produce two triple-doubles in the first three games of the season since Magic Johnson did in the 1982-83 season. And Westbrook is the first player in league history to have at least 100 points, 30 rebounds and 30 assists through his team’s first three games.

It’s as if Westbrook has been liberated since his old Thunder running mate Kevin Durant departed and took his talents to the Golden State Warriors.

“Yeah, I think so,” Clippers forward Blake Griffin said. “He’s an unbelievable player. Just the impact he has on the game from so many different areas. Just the pressure he puts on defenses just alone is crazy. So, yeah, you kind of know. That’s just his personality to just go and destroy and try and take over. But it’ll be a fun challenge.”

Over their first three games, the Clippers have held their opponents to 93 points per game on 42.6% shooting.

With Westbrook leading the way, the Thunder are third in the NBA in scoring [109.7].

“It’s always a fun matchup,” Griffin said. “They look different this year. But still, you see what Russ is doing. You see that they have guys that are very capable. So that part, you look forward to a game like that.”

Clippers seek to sustain effort

The Clippers analyzed their imperfections against Phoenix and concluded that perfection is difficult to attain.

The Clippers built a 13-point lead in the second quarter against the winless Suns, only to see some slippage in their play that allowed that lead to shrink to one point in the third.

But the Clippers got past that rough patch of the game by increasing their lead to 14 points later in the third and then taking the game home in the fourth quarter.

“Like I said, you’d love to be perfect for the entire game, but that’s just not realistic,” Griffin said. “Not every game. Not over the course of 82 games.

“So to come out a little flat in the second half is not what we wanted. But then to pick it back up and build that lead back is promising and I think it does show a little bit of growth. But we need to take it a step further than that and not even let it get to that. But like I said, hoping for a perfect game is a little foolish.”

NEXT UP

VS. OKLAHOMA CITY

When: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Staples Center.

On the air: TV: Prime Ticket/ESPN; Radio: 570, 1330.

Records: Clippers 3-0; Thunder 3-0.

Clippers vs. Thunder (2015-16): 1-2.

Update: The Thunder have other players than just Westbrook, who leads the team in scoring [38.7], rebounds [12.3] and assists [11.7]. There is his running mate in the backcourt, Victor Oladipo, who is second in scoring [17.0] and assists [2.3]. There is center Steven Adams, who is third in scoring [13.0] and second in rebounds [9.0], and backup center Enes Kanter, who is fourth in scoring [12.3] and rebounding [6.7].

broderick.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @BA_Turner