Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Jazz forward Joe Ingles wanted to spend the night at home with his family to celebrate his 31st birthday Tuesday.
Instead, Ingles treated everyone in attendance at the Vivint Arena with a gift of his own as his 24 points served as a catalyst for the Jazz to claim a 105-90 victory over the visiting Toronto Raptors.
“He was the catalyst to what we needed,” Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell said. “Coming out there we were kind of down a little bit and he kind of gave us a little bit of energy in that spurt. That’s what Joe does.”
Facing a 15-point deficit to the Raptors in the second quarter, Ingles hit a much-needed 3-pointer midway through the quarter to give the Jazz life amid an offensive drought that was mired by 15 turnovers in the half. Ingles followed up the 3-pointer with a steal on the other end of the court and a transition three for back-to-back buckets and a game-changing momentum shift.
“If I keep getting good shots, I’m going to take them,” Ingles said, talking about his willingness to shoot the open ball more. “I felt like I got good shots; it wasn’t thinking too much about it. It was just: if it’s there, I was going to shoot it; if not, I’d make the right play.”
Ingles would score 13 of his 24 points in the second quarter as the Jazz cut Toronto’s lead to nine going into the half. He would finish the game making five 3-pointers on 8-of-15 shooting from the field.
“His game is so fun to watch, especially for somebody like me who’s had the opposite game for most of my time,” rookie Grayson Allen, who added 6 points in his first competition against NBA talent, said of Ingles. “He had a great game. He kind of ignited a spark there with those threes for us.”
The Jazz would build off the Ingles momentum in the second half as the team went out on a 29-5 run against Toronto’s mostly second-string unit. A majority of the Raptors starters, including leading scorer Kawhi Leonard, who joined Toronto in an offseason trade with the San Antonio Spurs, were held out of the second half of play.
Leonard paced the Raptors to a double-digit lead in the first half behind his 17 points and five rebounds. But his physical presences and ability to score around the rim made it difficult for the Jazz to combat his offensive start.
Mitchell said Leonard had early success because he “got to the same spot almost every time” and was able to score at will against Utah’s defense.
“He’s so good with the ball,” Mitchell said of Leonard. “He slows down and he speeds up. He’s tough and he’s very fundamental. I think playing in San Antonio for all those years, playing with Pop (Greg Popovich), kinda honed in on his fundamentals and helped him out.”
“He’s just hard to guard,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder added about Leonard. “He can do a lot of things. He can shoot the ball from the 3-point line, he’s got a post-up game, he can drive it, he finishes, he gets to the line. He’s pretty much the whole package.”
The Raptors were also helped out by center Jonas Valanciunas, who added 18 points and nine rebounds of his own as the team’s leading scorer on the night. Serge Ibaka and Pascal Siakam combined for 21 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.
Contributing to Utah’s early offensive struggles was a multitude of turnovers that disrupted the flow of the game. In total, the Jazz finished the first half with 15 turnovers, including multiple traveling calls, which the NBA says will be called more frequently this year as one of its point of emphasis for the season.
Mitchell said the team was talked to about the league’s emphasis on calling more traveling violations and that it was just something the team was going to have to get used to moving forward. Mitchell added that the team “got rushed” in the first half and didn’t make the plays they’re used to making.
“If we don’t cut or go full speed, that’s when the mistakes happen,” he said.
Mitchell and fellow guard Ricky Rubio combined for 27 points, and center Rudy Gobert added 13 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Toronto before the trio checked out of the game in the third quarter.
Utah improves to 2-0 in the preseason andreturn to action Friday as they welcome to town the Adelaide 36ers from the Australian Basketball League. The game will tipoff at 7 p.m. at the Vivint Arena in the final home game of the preseason.
