Getty Utah Jazz shooting guard Joe Ingles.
During the Jazz’s absolute rout of the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night, Jazz shooting guard Joe Ingles accidentally swooshed what was clearly meant to be a lob to Jazz center Rudy Gobert.
Joe Ingles meant this and I’m very prepared to die on that hill. t.co/6Pqqy9GKVJ
In the video, Ingles dribbles off of a pick set by Gobert, who rolls to the basket. Ingles hesitates for a moment before throwing the lob to the rolling Gobert, but as Gobert gets tied up under the basket the ball just…goes in anyway.
Joe Ingles just threw what was CLEARLY a lob to Rudy Gobert for a dunk. It swished. No one in the arena had any clue what was going on.
The crowd erupted in confusion and delight as the Jazz collected two points on what was pretty obviously a lob pass, and Donovan Mitchell ran back on defense with his arms triumphantly raised in reaction to the happy accident.
This was a Much-Needed Win for the Jazz
The Jazz have been struggling to get the wins they need so far this season, and are unexpectedly below .500 after having the most successful season for the franchise in a generation last year. The win over the Spurs pulls them up the rankings and sits them at a promising 11th place, an improvement considering the lower spots they’ve been occupying of late, just below the Timberwolves and Kings.
The Spurs are ranked even lower, though, and currently sit at 14th in the Western Conference in their first season without Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili. That being said, their record isn’t that much worse than the Jazz’s at 11-13.
Next Up: The Rockets
Speaking of teams that have been struggling to find their expected success so far this season, the Houston Rockets are shockingly in 13th place in the Western Conference right now.
They’re 11-12, which is astounding considering that they gave the Golden State Warriors a run for their money in the Western Conference Finals last season, and were considered to be Championship contenders both last season and heading into 2018-2019. James Harden is still delivering, though, and is maintaining about 30 points per game along with nearly 9 assists.
The two struggling teams will have to duke it out to get the win they so desperately need when they face off in Salt Lake City on Thursday night, and if the Jazz want to win they’ll (obviously) need to shut down the Rockets’ most consistent scoring threat in James Harden.
The teams will play on TNT at 8:30 pm MST.
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