Aussies in NBA: Ingles’ 4th quarter heroics fall short vs Spurs
Joe Ingles sparked a final quarter charge against Patty Mills' San Antonio Spurs, with the Jazz ultimately falling just short 88-86 after Rodney Hood's three point attempt at the buzzer hit the front of the rim.
Up until three quarter time the night had been going poorly for the Jazz and Ingles, with the team trailing by 14 points and Ingles with only 2 points to his name.
Then Ingles got his jingle on, hitting three 3-pointer in a row in less than two minutes, bringing the Jazz within 5 points with 9.33 left to play and with all the momentum.
https://twitter.com/talkhoops/status/717546722952503296
https://twitter.com/Lockedonsports/status/717555594429800448
It could have been more 3's for Ingles had Raul Neto fed the hot hand when he was standing wide open in the corner!
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Ingles chimed in again later in the quarter with upfake, drive and bucket with the and-1 against the reigning Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard. Unfortunately he missed the free throw which was his only miss of the night.
When Ingles is adding scoring to his intangibles he becomes such an important player for the Jazz. Coach Snyder rolled with him for the entire 4th quarter as the Jazz pushed hard for a vital win as they battle for a playoff spot.
Ingles finished the game with 13 points (4-4 FGs, 3-3 3Pts, 2-3Ft) 2 rebounds, 1 block and 1 steal in 26 minutes.
Patty keeps it low-key
At the other end of the court Patty Mills had a relatively quite night, seemingly unable to find a good rhythm to really get going offensively.
Mills' speedy game is probably not entirely suited to playing against a team who play at the slowest pace in the league, still he made a solid contribution of 6 points (2-5 Fgs, 2-3 3Pts), 2 assists and 1 steal in 21 minutes.
There remains a good chance that the Spurs and Jazz meet in the first round of the playoffs, with the two teams currently 2nd and 8th in the West respectively.
Mills will face-off against another Aussie on Friday when the Spurs face Andrew Bogut's Warriors in the heavyweight clash between the teams with the two best records.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_3RRU8xXaw