MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Joe Ingles packaged 19 points and four stitches in a rough and tumble battle with Memphis that ultimately earned the Utah Jazz their third straight victory.
Rudy Gobert added 15 points and 16 rebounds for Utah as the Jazz avenged a couple of early-season home losses to Memphis with a 96-88 win over the Grizzlies on Monday night.
“I ain’t coming back. I’m not coming back,” Ingles said with a laugh when asked about Memphis. “My shoulder’s sore, my toes, everything. They play hard. The way we play, the way they play, it’s always going to kind of be gritty and tough.”
Ingles ended up needing stitches when he suffered a cut over his left eye in the fourth quarter.
And that was the theme of the night - a game that was low-scoring, full of bad shooting, turnovers and other mistakes on both ends of the floor. The Jazz shot 39 percent for the game and committed 15 turnovers, while Memphis connected on 42 percent of its shots, but was only 4 of 24 from outside the arc, along with 16 miscues.
Toss in 53 fouls, and the game lacked any flow.
“I think the game got kind of choppy the way it was being called,” Memphis coach J. B. Bickerstaff said. “We lost our rhythm.”
Mike Conley led Memphis with 24 points, while Marc Gasol added 16. Jaren Jackson Jr. and MarShon Brooks finished with 10 points each, and Jackson had 11 rebounds.
Memphis defeated the Jazz twice in Utah - 92-84 on Oct. 22, and 110-100 on Nov. 2 - and the Jazz didn’t want to lose the series with the Grizzlies a month into the season.
“It’s a great win,” Gobert said. “That’s a very tough team and a very smart team. . It was a battle and we got the win.”
After Memphis led 43-40 at the half, neither team could gain much separation in the early stages of the third quarter. The game was tied five times and the lead changed four times in the first seven minutes of the third.
The Jazz broke open a close game in the final six minutes with a 14-5 run. Gobert had eight points in the stretch as Utah built its lead to 11 points in the late stages.
“I think we just kept playing,” Gobert said of Utah’s second-half performance. “It’s hard when it’s a very physical game. You have to keep grinding. We kept grinding again, and eventually we got buckets down the stretch and got stops.”
TIP-INS
Jazz: After playing Memphis three times in the first month of the season, the teams don’t play again until March 8. … The 40 points by the Jazz before halftime was a season low for a first half. … The game began a stretch in which Utah plays 10 of 12 games on the road. … Favors has seven straight games in double figures. … Gobert has 12 double-doubles this season.
Grizzlies: Memphis matched its season low for points in a first quarter with 16. … Jackson recorded his first career double-double. He also had five blocks… Kyle Anderson matched his career best with 13 rebounds. … Memphis was the last Western Conference team to lose its first home game.
MEDICAL REPORT
Memphis announced before the game that reserve swingman Dillon Brooks will miss six to eight weeks with a left knee sprain suffered in the first half against Philadelphia on Saturday. Brooks had played 93 straight games since he came into the league last season, before he sat Monday night. Additionally, forward Chandler Parsons continues to deal with right knee and back soreness. No timetable was given for his return, other than to say his situation will be updated in two weeks.
HEADBAND JOE
Ingles suffered the cut over his left eye in the fourth quarter and the Jazz training staff went to work on sealing it shut. When the forward returned to the floor, he had a medical bandana wrapped around his head to cover the cut. Apparently, that led to “Headband Joe” trending on social media in Utah. “That’s what I’ve been striving for my whole life,” Ingles said of the social media nod. The 31-year-old from Australia added that it was the first time he had received stitches in his life.
UP NEXT
Jazz: At Dallas on Wednesday.
Grizzlies: Travel to Milwaukee to face the Bucks on Wednesday
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