"With the loss of Jeff Green, who was the Thunder's third leading scorer before being traded to Boston last week, all eyes are on James Harden and Serge Ibaka. The question everyone wants to know is how will they handle a larger role?

Harden took a big step in removing some uncertainty with his performance against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday. Harden had 14 points on 6-for-11 shooting in 28 minutes off the bench. He added three rebounds, three assists, three steals and some suffocating defense on Lakers star Kobe Bryant.

"James is improving, and we need James to continue to get better," said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. "I thought last game he played as well as he could play on both ends of the floor. He was guarding Kobe and Shannon Brown very well. And offensively, he was attacking. James is good when he's quick and looking to attack and not hold the ball or pound the ball."

Harden closed out the month of February with a 13-point average on 45.9 percent shooting, which narrowly trails his totals in December for the best month of Harden's season."