SoCal NBA Capsule

Los Angeles 123, Seattle 121, OT

SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Kobe Bryant showed rookie Kevin Durant how to close out a game the right way. Bryant scored a season-best 48 points, including the go-head shot with four seconds remaining, as the Los Angeles Lakers extended their winning streak to seven games with Monday's 123-121 overtime victory over the Seattle SuperSonics. The performance was the 87th career 40-point outing for Bryant, who has scored at least 40 in four of his last five trips to Key Arena. "It was an ugly game for us, but we found a way to tough it out, and that shows a great deal of improvement," Bryant said. "Tonight was the kind of game where I had to read the mood of the team." Durant, the Sonics leading scorer and NBA Rookie of the Month for November and December, admitted that he still had a lot to learn from Bryant. "It was a type of game where a great player like that steps up and knocks shots down," Durant said. "That's why he's the best player in the world. I'm the type of player who loves that last-second shot. Unfortunately, I came up short on some shots. That's how it is sometimes."