Australian Olympic hero Joe Ingles has been ejected for the first time in his NBA career for a “dangerous” play in Utah’s win over Sacramento.
While the Jazz were able to extend their unbeaten start to the year with a 110-110 win against the Kings, Ingles was given his marching orders late in the first quarter.
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The incident occurred when Ingles attempted to guard Kings rookie Davion Mitchell on a drive to the basket.
As Mitchell flew towards the rim, the on-rushing Ingles clipped the guard’s legs by accident, causing him to come crashing towards the court.
Ingles was initially whistled for a defensive foul but the call was changed to a Flagrant Penalty 2 after review, resulting in an automatic ejection.
Following the game, referee crew chief Kevin Cutler said Ingles was ejected due to making “reckless contact to an airborne shooter”.
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“The contact was deemed unnecessary and excessive, which is the criteria for a Flagrant Foul Penalty 2,” he said.
Despite the Aussie veteran’s ejection, Jazz coach Quinn Snyder defended him after the game.
“Obviously it’s not something Joe did intentionally, meaning with any malice,” Snyder said. “Those things happen.”
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Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points, Rudy Gobert had 17 points and 20 rebounds, while Mike Conley added 17 points for the Jazz, who won their fifth straight against Sacramento in the first game at Golden 1 Center with a full crowd since March 8, 2020.
“They came out and swung and connected and connected but we continued to get up,” Mitchell said.
“Off night shooting, turnovers, not running our plays. We figured all that out during the game. It was on us to talk to each other.”
Utah led by one going into the fourth quarter but went on runs of 10-0 and 6-0 before closing the game on a 15-6 burst.