The Lakers are still on a roll... and in a three-point drought the night the Thunder avenged their only defeat of the season

The Angeles Lakers climbed into second place in the Western Conference thanks to a win over the Utah Jazz—their tenth in 12 games—despite the three-point shooting woes that have coach JJ Redick on edge. At the top, remains the unbeatable Oklahoma City Thunder, who took revenge with a smashing beatdown over the Portland Trail Blazers (95-122), the only team that was able to defeat them so far this season.

The disappointment in outside shooting made the Lakers' victory more difficult than expected (108-106). Luka Doncic once again led the franchise with 33 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists. The Slovenian was also not spared from the bad run of three-pointers, scoring only 3 of 12 attempts.

After 20% of the regular season, the Lakers are last of the 30 teams in three-pointers made per game (10.9) and 24th in shooting percentage (33.8%). This is a serious concern for the Angelino coach. Against the Jazz they finished with a series of 10-38 (26%), with James missing all four of his attempts.

"I told the guys after the game that we are literally one of the worst teams in shooting. And I don't think we are that. We have to shoot with confidence," demanded the coach, who was a reputed three-pointer as a player.

LeBron's 'preseason'

LeBron James finished with 17 points and spent 34 minutes on the court in his second game of the season, following Tuesday's debut in another win against the Utah franchise. The Los Angeles team has started the season much better than expected with the absence of its franchise player in the first month.

Their record is 12 wins and four losses, second only to the dominant Oklahoma City Thunder, and expectations are on the rise as LeBron takes the pulse of his NBA-record 23rd career season.

"This week was like my preseason camp, to be honest," the star noted. "I didn't get a chance to practice with the guys at all and I'm still working my way back."

"We got a win. That's all that matters," Doncic stressed for his part after the tight win, in which he lifted the Salt Lake City crowd out of its seats with spectacular actions such as a drive underneath Kevin Love's legs and a alley-oop afterward for Jaxson Hayes.

Thunder's overwhelming revenge

The Thunder continue their whirlwind title defense with 17 wins and only one loss, which they conceded on Nov. 5 on the court of the Portland Trail Blazers. This Sunday it was the champions who hosted the Blazers and made them pay for that affront with a 122-95 thrashing.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, reigning MVP (Most Valuable Player), scored 37 points and 7 assists in 30 minutes. As usual, in the face of the Thunder's superiority, the Canadian point guard did not need to jump on the parquet in the last quarter.

Oklahoma City is the fifth team in the last 30 years to start a campaign with a 17-1 record and to do so has not needed All-Star forward Jalen Williams, who has yet to make his debut because of a wrist injury.

The Blazers, led on an interim basis by Brazilian Tiago Splitter, conceded their fifth loss in their last six games but remain in playoff contention with their ninth-place finish in the West.

Leonard's bitter return

The Los Angeles Clippers resumed their losing streak with a 120-105 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers despite the return of star player Kawhi Leonard.

The forward had been out 11 games, in which his team barely managed two wins. The last of those, on Saturday against the Hornets, required James Harden to break the franchise scoring record with 55 points.

A day laterThe Beard was held to 19 points, with a poor 5-16 shooting stat line from the field, while Leonard contributed 20 tallies in 26 minutes on the court.

Donovan Mitchell commanded Cleveland's offense with 37 points.