A near triple-double by Joe Ingles fuels Jazz in 115-100 victory over LeBron-less Lakers on an emotional night

With it being Autism Awareness Night at Vivint Smart Home Arena on Wednesday, Jazz forward Joe Ingles — whose son Jacob was diagnosed earlier this year — was understandably fired up.

A bit too much, apparently, for referee Ray Acosta, who issued the Aussie a technical foul late in the second quarter. Jazz coach Quin Snyder responded by calling a timeout to draw up a play for Ingles to curl around a screen and fire up a corner 3 — which he hit, of course.

The forward capped an emotional day by just missing the first triple-double of his career (and the team’s first in the regular season in more than 11 years), as the Jazz held off the undermanned-but-surprisingly sparky Lakers 115-100.

Ingles finished with 11 points, 14 assists, and nine rebounds, as Utah improved to 45-30 on the season and reduced its magic number for clinching a playoff spot to one.

As has been the case with the Jazz of late, it took them a bit to finally assert control and put away an inferior opponent.

Given that L.A. was without starters LeBron James, Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball, plus regulars Josh Hart, Reggie Bullock, Tyson Chandler and Mike Muscala, Utah’s players perhaps figured this victory might not require too much effort or efficiency.

But in spite of the Lakers fielding a second-quarter lineup that featured veteran forward Lance Stephenson and four guys named … ummmmm … Mo Wagner, Johnathan Williams, Scott Machado, and Alex Caruso, they seemed to surprise the lethargic Jazz by crawling to within 44-40 early in the period.

That seemed to get Utah’s attention.

Rudy Gobert responded with a dunk and Thabo Sefolosha followed with a triple to generate some breathing room. Then came Ingles’ post-tech trey, after which he added another bucket.

The half closed on an emphatic note when Donovan Mitchell spied a wide-open path down the lane, spun past Stephenson, elevated, and threw down a filthy one-hander over late-arriving big man JaVale McGee.

After the break, Utah came out focused, engaged and ready to end the nonsense. A 23-10 spurt to open the third period expanded the advantage to 83-63.

After that, it was all over but for the Ingles triple-double watch. After his strong first half, however, he seemed mostly content in the second to rack up the assists — where he established a new career-high.

His teammates did their part to convert his passes into baskets.

Gobert scored a team-high 22 points and chipped in 11 rebounds, while Derrick Favors added to the inside dominance with 20 points and six rebounds. Jae Crowder had 16 off the bench. Mitchell (11) and Ricky Rubio (10) were also in double-figures.

Ingles checked out with 2:27 to go — a rebound shy, but up more than 20 points — and got a big embrace from Snyder, while the crowd, fully aware of the near-milestone, issued mock boos, and followed with chants of “We want Joe! We want Joe!”

The Lakers, meanwhile struggled to get anyone other than ex-University of Utah star Kyle Kuzma and center McGee going. The former Ute totaled 21 points — including a pair of banked-in first-quarter 3-pointers, while McGee turned in a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

But Rajon Rondo shot 1 for 11. Stephenson was 3 for 11. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was just 2 for 9. In all, L.A. wound up connecting on only 38.1 percent of its shots for the game.

The Jazz will now turn their attention to clinching a playoff berth. They’ll be back in action at Vivint Arena on Friday night against the Washington Wizards.

from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/2U17CY6