NBA: The playoff pain driving Joe Ingles’ shot at NBA championship glory with the Utah Jazz

Boomers star Joe Ingles is determined to achieve NBA playoff success with Utah this season following a host of failed campaigns.

Boomers star Joe Ingles feels like this season is his best chance to win an NBA championship with his beloved Utah Jazz, although he admits the Jazz’s No.1 seed will put a “target” on the team’s back.

Ingles’ Jazz will head into the postseason full of confidence after finishing first in the Western Conference.

The veteran Australian swingman has also enjoyed a stellar season for Utah, including surpassing John Stockton for the most three-point makes in franchise history.

Ingles, who is also in the conversation for Sixth Man of the Year, believes the Jazz are primed to perform following the pain of surrendering a 3-1 lead to Denver during the first round of last year’s playoffs.

“We had a moment and when you lose after leading 3-1, it kinds of wakes you up a little bit,” Ingles said as part of an interview for Kayo Sports.

Joe Ingles says it is time for Utah to focus on a new goal: winning a championship. Picture: Christian Petersen/Getty Images.

“We knew we were good, but obviously we weren’t good enough, and that focus is kind of renewed and we are really locked in on everything.

“I’ve been lucky to be in a few playoff series and either lost in the first round or been quietly swept in the second round a few times.

“But it is an exciting time for our team. It is a special group with what we’ve done this year, but it is time to park that and focus on the playoffs and a new goal.”

Ingles couldn’t be prouder of Utah for pushing through the unpredictability of a season impacted by a global pandemic to take the West’s top seed. He also knows that finishing first in a talent-loaded Western Conference puts pressure on the Jazz to perform.

“We know we have a little bit of a target on our backs because people are going to want to play us and beat us,” he said as the Jazz prepare to host their first round opener on Monday Australian time. “But we believe we earnt it.

“It gives us home court, which is cool because the whole way no matter how far we go, we’ll have home court.

“I believe we’ve got the most fans at games, if not tied. They’ve just announced we’ll have 13,000 and I think our stadium is 19,000, so it will be 75 per cent full.

“We also played the right way. We played good basketball and we played unselfishly for 72 games. It has put us in this position and now it is on us to park the top seed aside. We aren’t going to be celebrating just finishing first.”

Ingles is counting on home-court advantage to give the Jazz an edge. Picture: Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

Ingles’ confidence comes as former Australian teammate Andrew Bogut declared the Jazz would make the NBA finals.

Bogut believes the postseason is looming as one of the most unpredictable for some time.

“This is the first year where, in my opinion, there is no clear-cut favourite,” Bogut said at a Hennessy NBA playoff launch in Bondi.

“There is probably a top six or seven that have a chance, so it is going to be fun to watch just for that fact. There is no clear winner. Probably Brooklyn in the East and the West, man it is so wide open, I’d love to see Utah get there.”

Ingles agrees with Bogut that a 72-regular season impacted by a global pandemic has played a role in more teams being legitimate championship contenders.

“I think it has opened things up a little bit more because some teams have been hit pretty hard with either COVID or injuries,” he said.

“The teams that you would normally see at the top are a bit lower down.

“I mean, the Lakers playing in a play-in game, probably no one would have put money on that heading into the pre-season.

“So, I hope everyone else plays like crap and we win, that is the goal.”