Utah Jazz dud: Joe Ingles
Joe Ingles, as usual, got the starting nod in the absence of Donovan Mitchell. Uncharacteristically, he didn’t exactly earn it.
He finished this game with 5 points shooting 2/9 from the floor and 1/8 from deep. We’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: Ingles is not an aggressive shot taker. He’s a smart one. He contributes on the margins, and Utah Jazz fans generally love him for it.
His shot was simply in the tank last night. There’s not much he can do about that. Every NBA player wants every shot they take to go in. Ingles wasn’t guilty of poor shot selection. They simply didn’t drop.
He was still flat enough to be considered a dud in this performance. Nobody expects him to replicate Mitchell’s output, but it would have been nice to see him leave 10 points on the table instead of 20.
Luckily, the Jazz came away with a win anyway. They needed this one badly. After all, it only gets harder from here. They’ll square off with the Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns in back-to-back action on January 23 and 24.