Joe Ingles didn’t find out he had broken a team record from a coach, a teammate, a team official or a tweet.
He found out from his wife, Renae Ingles, as he scrolled through his text messages after a 103-97 win over the Sacramento Kings.
“First message I read from my wife was that,” he said. “It was a cool way to find out from her. It’s an honor to be a part of this franchise and now, to hold something. There’s a few untouchables, but I found one I can get.”
Ingles is now the Utah Jazz (40-30) record-holder for most 3-pointers in a single season, hitting his 179th in the fourth quarter with just 2:23 left to play in a competitive game. And that’s just the way he would have it — not in garbage minutes, not just stat-stuffing, but when it was actually serving the team’s interest.
The 30-year-old Australian’s blossoming NBA career is unlikely in many fashions. While he’s actually leading the NBA with 45 percent shooting from 3-point range, in the larger picture, even Ingles took pause to appreciate that he leads all Jazz players in history in the category.
It’s, in part, a milestone that’s been achieved because the NBA game has shifted to more spread-out sets that value the 3-point shot. But even in a league that is empowering its 3-point shooters, Ingles has been famously egged on by coach Quin Snyder to shoot more.
With 12 more games to go, he’s on pace to distance himself from second-place Randy Foye (2012-13) by a good margin. But since the beginning of the season, even though he knew he’d have a larger role, Ingles had no ambition to shoot this many threes.
He may look like a math teacher, but the numbers don’t mean much to him.
“I’ve never had goals, numbers-wise,” he said. “I’ve never gone into a season saying I need to average this or do this. Except wins. I’ll take wins. We’re headed in the right direction with that.”
