Joe Ingles is a massive piece for the Utah Jazz team, providing scoring and tenacious defense off the bench when he is called upon. The Jazz has been struggling recently and their issues have been added to in the form of Joe Ingles picking up an injury during their loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night. ‘
Adrian Wojnarowski has now confirmed that Ingles has torn the ACL in his left knee and will have to undergo surgery that will see him miss the rest of the season for the Utah Jazz. Furthermore, the recovery and potential return are set to go into the 2022-23 regular season, meaning that Ingles could miss nearly a year of action for the Jazz.
On surgery: Ingles will need to get a range of motion back in his left knee before surgery and that could take more than two weeks, but it's a fluid timeline. Recovery and a return to play will certainly extend into the 2022-2023 season.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 31, 2022
Ingles has been struggling this season, with his points per game average down by nearly 5 points from last season. His efficiency had also seen a significant drop, considering that he was shooting 45% from three-point range last season and that had come down to just 34% in his 45 games this season. Having said that, Ingles is a regular part of the rotation, which means his prolonged absence will surely hurt the Jazz as they look to arrest their current slide.
Joe Ingles was still runner-up for the Sixth Man Of the Year award last season and a player that they have been able to rely on in the playoffs. The Jazz has already missed Donovan Mitchell for their last 7 games thanks to concussion protocols while Rudy Gobert has also missed the last 4.
This run of misfortune has seen the Jazz drop out of the race for the top seeds in the Western Conference, with Utah in danger of falling as low as 6th place if they can’t find a way to start winning soon. During their current era, they have always been a good regular season team, so it remains to be seen how they will react to all the setbacks that they have recently faced.
