Utah Jazz: 3 takeaways from the 2017-18 season opener

3. Donovan Mitchell is locked into the rotation

At one point, this was looking very much like a “welcome to the NBA” type of game for Donovan Mitchell. After being thrown into the deep end by Hood’s exit, Mitchell was a little too eager to impress in his regular season debut.

His final line of 10 points, four assists and three turnovers on 3-of-11 shooting makes it look worse than it really was. Defensively he was sound and he facilitated the second unit as the primary ball-handler exceptionally well. It was only early on when forcing the issue that Mitchell struggled.

Perhaps it was his unexpected elevation into the starting lineup that threw him off, but once the rotation was restored in the second half, Mitchell and the Jazz found another gear. The rookies’ +22 was equal in the second half with Alec Burks, the man being credited with a game-winning performance.

For a guy that was expecting to get a feel for the game from the bench only to end up on the court for tip-off, Mitchell responded well and gets a solid pass mark for his regular season debut.