Report: Jazz moving Ingles to bench, keeping Conley in starting lineup

The Utah Jazz are moving small forward Joe Ingles into a bench role, The Athletic's Shams Charania and Tony Jones report.

After reportedly notifying players that they were taking veteran point guard Mike Conley out of the starting lineup beginning Wednesday, the Jazz have altered those plans by removing Ingles instead.

Ingles shifted into Utah's starting five in early December following the team's underwhelming start to the season. The Jazz got red-hot after making the change, which included a stretch of 19 wins in 21 games spanning from Dec. 11 to Jan. 25. Utah has gone 4-8 since, however.

The Australian has averaged 11.2 points and 6.1 assists in 31.6 minutes per game as a starter this season. His numbers have dropped significantly in the 20 games he's operated in a reserve role, with averages of 7.6 points and 3.5 assists in 27.5 minutes. Ingles' 3-point shooting percentage also plummets, dropping from 43.2% to 31.2%.

With 25 games remaining, the Jazz stand at 36-21 (.632). They trail the fourth-seeded Houston Rockets by one game but also sit just 1.5 contests ahead of the seventh-seeded Dallas Mavericks in a tight Western Conference playoff picture.