S
Sarah Todd
Guest
Utah Jazz forward Joe Ingles (2) shoots over New Orleans Pelicans guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker (6) at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
On Tuesday night Joe Ingles returned to the Jazz lineup after missing four of the last five games and was triumphant in helping the Jazz to a 118-102 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Ingles closed out the night with an incredibly efficient 15 points, shooting 5 of 6 from 3-point range in just 18 minutes and 38 seconds on the floor.
“It was bizarre not playing to be honest, especially the first one just knowing that I wasn’t going to be playing and just kind of sitting around those couple days. I’ve never really been in this position before so it was different.” — Utah Jazz forward Joe Ingles
Through 418 consecutive games — including 384 regular season contests — Ingles was as durable as they come, not missing a single game and not suffering any significant injuries that would require taking some time off. He hadn’t missed a game since Dec. 16, 2015. It was the longest active streak of consecutive games played in the NBA.
That run came to an end when a sore right Achilles sidelined Ingles against the Milwaukee Bucks on Jan. 8. Ingles was back in the lineup two days later against the Detroit Pistons, but the Achilles was still bothering him forcing him to sit out the next three consecutive games.
“It was bizarre not playing to be honest, especially the first one just knowing that I wasn’t going to be playing and just kind of sitting around those couple days,” Ingles said. “I’ve never really been in this position before so it was different.”
He wasn’t the only one that found his absence bizarre. Donovan Mitchell knew that he would be missing what Ingles provides on the court, but not having Ingles around for the pregame routines and warm ups was a bit of a shock to the system.
When Mike Conley was sidelined with a nagging hamstring injury last season, the Jazz went on a 10-game win streak with him watching from the bench. Conley later said that there is some anxiety that sets in when you’re not playing and watching your team succeed. You don’t want to come back only to play poorly and cause the success to come to a screeching halt.
Ingles felt similarly as the Jazz went into Tuesday’s game on a five-game winning streak.
“That’s the weirdest thing and me and Mike were talking about it,” Ingles said. “The team starts winning and you’re out and then you come back in and you don’t want to be the one that ruins it. I’m just glad we won. That’s what I wanted to do tonight.”
The Jazz will play the Pelicans again on Thursday night in the second game of their six-game home stand and there’s no reason to think that Ingles won’t be lacing up his sneakers for that game.
Ingles said that he wouldn’t have come back on Tuesday unless he was sure that he was feeling good enough to keep playing. He was happy to be back on the court after sitting out for the first time in more than five years and the Jazz were all too happy to have him back.
The new Ingles ironman streak: one game.
Full Story from the Deseret News...