Joe Ingles breaks silence on 3-year old beef with Paul George

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Joe Ingles, Paul George, Clippers, Jazz

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While the Utah Jazz and the LA Clippers are facing each other in the playoffs for the first time since 2017, Joe Ingles and Paul George are facing each other for the first time since 2018.

If you remember, that wasn’t just an ordinary series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Jazz. Both George and Ingles got into it multiple times throughout the series.

I compiled all the Paul George-Joe Ingles exchanges from that 2017-18 postseason (as well as a few others). pic.twitter.com/gB7HGJIZ3Z
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) June 10, 2021

Game 1 between the Clippers and Jazz was a dogfight, but not testy like the last time Paul George and Joe Ingles faced one another. In fact, if you ask Joe Ingles about it, he’ll tell you it’s old news.
“The whole narrative of Joe vs. Paul George is a little bit old in my mind,” Joe Ingles said during the team’s morning shootaround ahead of Game 2. “It’s the Jazz vs. the Clippers, it was OKC vs the Jazz.
“Obviously, for me, it’s a matchup that I wanna try and do and kind of hold him as much as I can. Again, he’s obviously a highly impactful player for their team. He has the ball, he gets shots within their offense, so I obviously realize he’s heavily involved and for me or for Royce or Bojan or Donovan, whoever is guarding him, at that point, it’s just to make it as tough as we can on him and Kawhi. There’s no individual battles or one-on-one matchups. It’s 10 guys on the court and obviously we’ve got to defend as a team and that’s what we’ve done all year.”

“The whole narrative of Joe vs. Paul George is a little bit old in my mind. It’s the Jazz vs Clippers, it was OKC vs Jazz … I don’t read into the 1-on-1 stuff. 3 years ago is a long time. My twins were barely talking & now they’re 5 and annoy the hell out of me.”
– Joe Ingles pic.twitter.com/pCmXRMKoGR
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) June 10, 2021

George wasn’t very impactful throughout the first three quarters of Game 1, only producing seven points on 1-of-10 shooting from the field. He was able to get into more of a rhythm offensively in the fourth quarter, where he scored 13 points on 3-of-7 shooting.
Joe Ingles wasn’t his usual impactful self either, only scoring eight points and dishing seven assists on 3-of-12 shooting from the field.
Still, Game 2 is expected to feature both players a lot more, especially given their lack of impact in the first game. Don’t expect it to turn into a one-on-one battle, however.
“I personally don’t read into the 1-on-1 stuff,” Ingles added. “I mean three years ago is a long time. My twins were barely talking then and now they’re five and annoy the hell out of me so three years is a long time. I hope he’s happy there and whatever but it’s the Jazz vs. the Clippers and that’s all I’m focused on.”
Game 2 between the Clippers and Jazz will be at 7PM PST on ESPN.



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