--Thabo Sefolosha is finding his niche. Grouped in a starting lineup with three big-time scorers, the lanky swingman is becoming the Thunder's lockdown defender. He may not have the reputation of Ron Artest, Shane Battier or the recently-retired Bruce Bowen, but Sefolosha is making his mark. He's already put the clamps on Kevin Martin, Ben Gordon and Brandon Roy this season, and made Kobe Bryant work for his 31 points Tuesday. "Some guys are going to score 20 on our team, and some guys are going to stop the other guy from scoring 20," Sefolosha said. "It's just part of the job and I'm happy if I can help my team this way."
--Oklahoma City went into Tuesday ranked second in the league in scoring defense (85 points per game) and third in field-goal percentage defense (39.4). The team struggled in both categories last season.
The Lakers scored 101 and shot 52 percent Tuesday to skew those numbers somewhat, but it appears all the work the Thunder put in before the season is paying off.
"I'm very excited with the way guys have committed to that end of the floor," coach Scott Brooks said.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "We'll continue to get better. We fought. We were scrappy. We didn't put our heads down and let the Lakers run over us." -- Forward Jeff Green, after losing to the Lakers in overtime.
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