SALT LAKE CITY – Joe Ingles made an initial statement as he sat in his press sessions after the game after the Utah Jazz’s 128-112 victory in Sacramento on Saturday at the Living Arena.
“There’s going to be a question … and I’ll just let you all know now that you don’t bother asking it because I don’t answer,” Ingles said.
Someone said something to English during the game. Who said it and what exactly was said? These answers could forever be a mystery to people outside of the Jazz locker room, but the incident was the engine of Utah’s victory Saturday.
The Jazz (40-13) came out slow – really slow. They didn’t get their first points until three minutes into the game and didn’t get their first basket until the four-and-a-half minutes had scored. After playing three games in four nights against the Western Conference playoff teams, it looked like the Jazz had little interest in playing with all their effort 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 out,” said Georges Niang, who had 12 points. “They’re confident and we wanted to take away their confidence, so sometimes, in the heat of the game, you just have to go back and forth and that’s what led to that.”
So if the Kings wanted to get the winning streak of the Utah franchise, which is now 24, they probably should have kept their mouths shut.
They didn’t.
“I don’t want to put Joe in place, but someone said something to Joe,” Donovan Mitchell said. “And Joe gave an answer I hadn’t heard in a long time, and it woke me up. When Joe gets angry, I get angry.”
That’s how the Kings ended up having to fight with a 42-point night from Mitchell and a 20-point game with six assists from Ingles. A Utah team that seemed disinterested in coming in suddenly had a bit of a spark.
“It’s more of a fun comedy thing for me, but it obviously illuminates something that makes the game fun,” Ingles said.
Ingles helped save Jazz from its inception. His four assists in the first quarter were more than half of the team’s total. He pushed the ball into the transition and found guys open, and he was really the only jazz player who was effective at attacking Kings ’change defense.
“I was creating for other people,” said jazz coach Quin Snyder. “And a lot of times when you do it’s what ends the shot.”
He fired a lot. Ingles was 5 out of 10 from the 3-point range on Saturday, a percentage that almost matches the season average. Ingles is pulling a hair below 50% as of this season: more volume is good for Jazz; it was a bad thing for the Kings.
As the saying goes, you don’t want to sting the bear, especially if that bear also has some bear friends.
Mitchell scored 12 points on the 3-of-14 shot at halftime; he had 30 points in the 9-of-17 shot after the break, a change he credited to the comment.
“That’s what changed my life personally,” Mitchell said of the mystery comment. “As for the team, I think the most important thing is that we found a way to win. It was ugly. I didn’t throw the ball well, we made some mistakes defensively, a lot of defensive mistakes; offensively, they were a bit stagnant. But the team we want to be wins games like this. “
Mitchell wasn’t alone in being much more effective in the second half. After Kings center Richaun Holmes had a 21-point first half, Rudy Gobert kept him at just 4 points in the final two quarters.
“Don’t get us wrong, Rudy is the defensive player of the year and he’ll get the best game from people every night,” Niang said. “So for him (Holmes) with 21 points in the middle and what did he end up with? 25? Yes, 4 points, that’s how, okay, you woke up a monster.”
The much more focused play led Jazz to 17-1 in the third and 24-7 in the fourth. They were good enough to erase the ugliest moments.
Although Ingles was unwilling to delve deeper into the moment that led to Jazz’s victory, he will move on to the memory bank of dozens, if not hundreds, of similar encounters.
“It’s actually funny. I’ve said it before, like I’ve never gotten into a game thinking about talking to anyone,” Ingles said, speaking in general. “Obviously I probably have more conversations with people than anyone on our team.”
On Saturday, De’Aaron Fox, the English and Sacramento guard, did many things. While Ingles did what he often does: he rejected any response from opponents while smiling about it. Fox’s frustration grew as he officiated as the Kings ’first lead turned into a 16-point loss. Fox went so far as to call him the “horrible god” after the game. This led him to confront the officers as the final horn sounded. Mitchell, trying to save his old friend from a fine, tried to intervene.
“He’s been my friend since high school and you don’t have to lose money for a situation like that: the game is over, the competition is over,” Mitchell said.
A game that, quite appropriately, ended with the players talking.