The Utah Jazz have become a trendy pick as potential usurpers of the mighty Warriors after their success against them last season. Last night’s game in Salt Lake City showed why Utah is as close as anyone (which still isn’t that close) to taking down the champs. Here are 5 takeaways from that game after losing 123-124 on a Jonas Jerebko tip-in at the buzzer.

1. The Utah Jazz bench will win them a lot of games this year

We knew the Jazz had a deep bench coming into the season. What we didn’t know is how good they would be. After only 2 games it’s easy to see how good Utah’s second unit is going to be. After the starters fell behind early against the Sacramento Kings in game 1 of the season, it was the bench that sparked a big run to take back the lead. Alec Burks, Jae Crowder, and Dante Exum combined for 39 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists and were each important to the victory.

Crowder and Exum both played great last night as well, feasting on the shallow bench of the Warriors. Dante Exum, Royce O’Neale, Alec Burks, Jae Crowder, and Thabo Sefolosha are all NBA rotation players that will be vital to Utah’s success this year. I’m willing to bet there will be many games where the Jazz go on a big run against other teams’ benches.

2. The Utah Jazz are playing money ball

Looking at the shot chart of last night is telling about the type of offense Quin Snyder wants to run this year.

Shot chart via Statmuse.com

Coach Snyder said in the preseason how he wants the Jazz to get up more 3’s this year. Utah was 13th last year in 3PA at 29.6 per game, connecting on 36.6 percent of them. In 2 games this year they are up at 36.5 attempts per game at an unsustainable 43.8 percent success rate. Even if they fall back to least season’s success rate, it is a nice improvement to see.

Utah also only took 9 shots that were outside of the paint and weren’t a 3 pointer. It will be interesting to watch this trend as we move forward.

3. Joe Ingles the All Star?

Joe Ingles is off to the best start in his career.  Do I actually believe he will be an all start this year? No, but he does look better now than ever before two games into the young season. He’s arguably been Utah’s most important player and is building off the success of the last two years. What’s different now is that he’s not just a shooter. Just a shooter is speaking a little lightly, considering he is 11/18 from 3 to start the season, but he’s doing more than just hitting the shots that come to him.

What I’m seeing is Ingles being more involved as a creator and playmaker. He’s more willing to beat guys on his own instead of just being a knockdown shooter. This is surprising because he hasn’t really exhibited that ability yet. He’s always been a good passer, but never been as aggressive with the ball before. He has 10 assists through 2 games, second most on the team to Ricky Rubio’s 14. Last night with the score at 114-113, Joe drove for a contested layup to put the Jazz up 1. A minute and a half later he hit a huge step back 3 to put the Jazz up 118-115. I love seeing Ingles more involved and hope that trend continues.

4. Donovan Mitchell has some learning and adjusting to do

I don’t think this is quite the start that Donovan Mitchell was hoping for. After a wildly successful rookie year, expectations were high for the Louisville guard. He may be averaging 21.5 points, but that’s on 22 shots and 34% from the field. Defenses have been focusing on him in new ways and he hasn’t figured out how to counter it yet.

Last night’s game brought some poor decision making late as he took contested pull up 3’s when the Jazz needed a bucket. One big positive is that his turnovers are down from last year, something you hope for in a second year player. I’m confident he’ll figure it out, just like he always did last year. Once he does, Utah will be that much better.

5. Speaking of turnovers, the Utah Jazz have a turnover problem

And no I’m not talking about a delicious pastry. In both games to start the season the Jazz have coughed up 17 turnovers. These giveaways have lead to 44 total points by the Kings and Warriors. That’s not going to cut it as the season continues. Cutting down on turnovers was an emphasis by Quin Snyder during the offseason, and I’m sure he’ll continue to make it a focal point until it’s fixed.

One contributing factor could be that the Jazz are playing at a faster pace than they have in years. They’ve increased from a 96.7 pace last year, to 106 this year. It’s unlikely they remain playing that fast, but as they get more comfortable playing quicker the turnovers should naturally come down a notch or two.

Overall I’m very impressed with how the Utah Jazz fought with the Warriors last night. Golden State came in ready to play and the Jazz went toe-to-toe with the defending champions. They proved just how much they belong in the discussion of the NBA’s best teams.