SALT LAKE CITY – Joe Ingles made an opening statement when he sat down for his post-game media sessions following Saturday’s Utah Jazz 128-112 win over Sacramento at Vivint Arena.
“There’s one question coming … and I want to let you all know that you don’t have to ask now because I’m not answering,” Ingles said.
Someone said something to Ingles during the game. Who said it and what exactly was said? Those answers may forever be a mystery to those outside the Jazz dressing room, but the incident was the driving force behind Utah’s victory on Saturday.
The Jazz (40-13) came out slow – very slow. They only scored their first points after three minutes into the game and only reached their first basket after four and a half minutes. After playing three games in four nights against the Western Conference playoff teams, it seemed that the Jazz had little interest in playing with full force against the sliding kings (22-31).
“When a team kicks you in the mouth to start, 12-1, I mean you have to find something to get your juices going,” said Georges Niang, who had 12 points. “They feel confident, and we wanted to take their confidence away a little bit, so sometimes, in the heat of battle, you just start jawing back and forth and that’s exactly what led to that.”
So if the Kings wanted to break the winning streak of Utah’s franchise record, which now stands at 24, they probably should have kept their mouths shut.
They didn’t.
“I don’t want to put Joe on the spot, but someone said something to Joe,” Donovan Mitchell said. And Joe gave an answer I hadn’t heard in a while, and it just shocked me. When Joe gets angry, I get angry. ”
That’s how the Kings ended up dealing with a 42-point night from Mitchell and a 20-point, six assists game from Ingles. A Utah team that looked disinterested when they went in suddenly had a bit of a spark.
“It’s more of a funny comedy type to me, but it clearly illuminates something in me that makes the game fun,” said Ingles.
Ingles helped save the Jazz from their rotten start. His four assists in the first quarter were more than half of the team total. He pushed the ball into the transition and found open guys, and he really was the only jazz player effective at attacking the Kings who switched defenses.
“He created for other people,” said jazz coach Quin Snyder. “And often when you do, you’re the one taking the picture.”
He shot a lot. Ingles was 5 to 10 from Saturday’s 3-point range – a percentage close to his seasonal average. Ingles shoots a hair under 50% from 3 this season – more volume is a good thing for the Jazz; they were bad things to the kings.
As the saying goes, you don’t want to poke the bear – especially if that bear has bear friends around too.
Mitchell had 12 points on 3-of-14 shooting at half time; he had 30 points on 9-of-17 shooting after the break – a turnaround he attributed to the comment.
“That’s really what turned the tide for myself,” Mitchell said of the mysterious comment. “As for the team, I think the most important thing was that we just found a way to win. It was ugly. I didn’t shoot the ball right, we made a few mistakes defensively, defensively a lot of mistakes; were offensive. a bit stagnant. But the team we want to be wins these kinds of games. “
Mitchell wasn’t the only one who was much more effective in the second half. After Kings center Richaun Holmes had a first half of 21 points, Rudy Gobert kept him to just 4 points in the last two quarters.
“Let’s not misunderstand this, Rudy is the defensive player of the year and he gets the best game of people every night,” Niang said. “So for him (Holmes) to have 21 points in the half and where did he end with? 25? Yeah, 4 points, it’s like, okay, you woke up a monster.”
The much more focused play led to Jazz runs 17-1 in the third and 24-7 in the fourth. They were good enough to erase the uglier moments.
While Ingles was unwilling to elaborate on the moment that sparked the Jazz victory, it will end up in the memory bank of dozens, if not hundreds, of similar encounters.
“It’s funny actually. I’ve said it before, like I’ve never started in a game with the idea of talking to someone,” Ingles said in general. “I probably get more conversations with people than anyone on our team.”
On Saturday, it was Ingles and Sacramento guard De’Aaron Fox who yelped a lot. While Ingles did what he often does – provoke any response from opponents while smiling about it. Fox’s frustration grew over the officers when the Kings’ early lead turned to a 16-point loss. Fox went so far as to call the duty “god awful” after the game. That led to him confronting the referees while the last horn blew. Mitchell, trying to save his old friend from a fine, tried to intervene.
“He’s been a friend of mine since high school and there’s no need to lose money through a situation like that – the game is over, the competition is over,” Mitchell said.
A game that, appropriately enough, ended with players talking.