Utah Jazz: Most intriguing individual matchups series – Pacific Division

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - MARCH 25: Devin Booker #1 of the Phoenix Suns handles the ball against Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz on March 25, 2019 at vivint.SmartHome Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - MARCH 25: Devin Booker #1 of the Phoenix Suns handles the ball against Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz on March 25, 2019 at vivint.SmartHome Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images)
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OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – APRIL 15: Joe Ingles #2 of the Utah Jazz tries to keep the ball away from Paul George #13 of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half of Game One of the Western Conference in the 2018 NBA Playoffs at the Chesapeake Energy Arena on April 15, 2018 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – APRIL 15: Joe Ingles #2 of the Utah Jazz tries to keep the ball away from Paul George #13 of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half of Game One of the Western Conference in the 2018 NBA Playoffs at the Chesapeake Energy Arena on April 15, 2018 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

LA Clippers: Paul George vs. Joe Ingles

Even though Paul George is a fantastic player and now finds himself on an incredible LA Clippers squad paired alongside Kawhi Leonard, Jazz fans will likely still remember him for his struggles in the 2018 NBA Playoffs against Joe Ingles. Although PG had some great moments, when all was said and done, Ingles out-shined him and managed to frustrate him out of his typical rhythm.

Between hitting big threes, slowing him on defense and talking trash incessantly, the play of Ingles versus George in that playoff series became a thing of legend and a showdown that fans will undoubtedly want to see again even with George now on a different team.

While PG outscored Ingles throughout that series, he went just 40.8 percent from the field and 36.5 percent from deep whereas Joe scorched the nets to the tune of 43.8 percent from the field and an incredible 46.7 percent from the perimeter. The exclamation point came in Game 6 in Salt Lake City wherein PG was held to just five points on an abysmal 2-of-16 shooting mark from the field and 0-of-6 from three with Ingles in his grill and chirping in his ear all game long.

That series definitely led to a bit of bad blood between the two, and despite the enhanced roster Paul George is now a part of, I don’t expect that animosity to be dampened whatsoever. In fact, with both teams now much-improved and likely contending with one another for a championship, it wouldn’t be surprising if they took things to an even higher level this upcoming season.

Ingles managed to get the best of George in that incredible series in 2018. If he can keep that up throughout the contests this upcoming season, it’s going to make for an entertaining individual matchup. He didn’t do nearly as well against PG in this past regular season, so 2019-20 will ideally provide a nice bounce-back opportunity for him.

Scheduled Contests:

  • 10/30 LA at Utah
  • 11/3 Utah at LA
  • 12/28 Utah at LA
  • 4/7 LA at Utah