Point Ingles and a Strong Second Quarter Carry Jazz to Win, 126-112

Point Ingles made a big difference for the Jazz again. (Melissa Majcrhzak via espn.com)

After giving up 36 first-quarter points to a Memphis Grizzlies offense that ranked in the bottom five going into the game, the Jazz started the second period trailing by four. The Jazz quickly tool control, though, with a 25-4 run that gave them the lead for good on the way to a 126-112 win.

In what may be one of the more dominant quarters of play the Jazz have had this season, they held the Grizzlies to 18 points in that quarter while scoring 37 of their own. This has been the most troubling facet of the Jazz play this season, by the way. The team has sensational quarters in almost every game, but they can’t string together more than a decent half. Against a team like Memphis, a single quarter or half is mostly enough to get the job done. But it’s just not one dominant quarter and three decent or average ones. It’s one dominant stretch being bogged down by many many miserable stretches. We saw a few of these tonight with errant passes and heads down play.

Whether it’s Donovan Mitchell turning the ball over (which he did seven times) or lots of non-restricted area paint shots (these are bad), the Jazz are having a lot of head scratching decisions that are both frustrating and mind-boggling to watch. They feel good about the win, and there’s definitely some positives, but some of the same problems we’ve been seeing all along persist. Namely, bad shot selection and a lack of precision in a lot of the sets. 

Joe Ingles, Point Guard

One thing that is becoming clear, and hopefully Jazz coach Quin Snyder is on the same page¹: Joe Ingles may not have been struggling to any fault of his own. He had a new role thrust upon him as Utah’s sixth man, and as his performance dipped, commentary about regression and age made the rounds on Jazz Twitter. Turns out that narrative might not be valid. With Mike Conley missing his second straight game due to hamstring soreness, Ingles has filled the void and taken on point guard duties, despite Mitchell getting the PG nod in the lineup. Of course, Snyder’s offense involves a lot of sharing, so Donovan initiates offense as well, but Joe is now the lead maestro and orchestrator. And he’s doing really well. He had 10 assists on Saturday, including a really nice give-and-go with Rudy Gobert in the fourth quarter. 

The takeaway seems simple: bring Ingles back to the starting lineup, or at least let him spend much more time with the starting unit. There’s probably other ways Snyder can solve for this, but Ingles is the glue of this team. And with him struggling to adapt to a new role, Snyder may need to take some initiative and figure out a way to get Ingles into a role where he is comfortable and capable of contributing. Because when he’s keyed in and part of the offense and system, the Jazz look like a well-oiled machine. 

It’s still not clear when Conley will return, so we will likely get to see this version of Joe for a little while longer. Next up is OKC at home on Monday night.