It wasn’t any one thing that was the cause of the Warriors’ downfall during their 122-108 home loss to the Utah Jazz on Monday night. The Jazz are simply a better basketball team.

They have better players, execute a little better and play a little smarter. They have experienced guys up and down the lineup who can make shots, distribute and defend. They are deeper, as seven of their players scored at least 11 points. The Warriors, obviously, have talented basketball players. They just don’t have the pure skill to keep up with a team as good as the Jazz, who should legitimately contend for the Western Conference title if everyone can stay healthy.

Offensively, the Warriors played a solid game. 108 points scored, nearly 48% shooting from the field, 23 assists dished out and only 10 turnovers committed are all very strong numbers against what is arguably the NBA’s best defensive team. D’Angelo Russell continued his string of strong offensive showings with 33 points on over 50% shooting to go along with eight assists. Jordan Poole, who hasn’t been able to consistently hit shots early in his career, went 5-for-11 from the field and scored 11 points. Marquese Chriss and Alec Burks scored in double digits as well.

The main problems, as has frequently been the case this season, came up on defense. The Jazz have an incredible amount of offensive skill on their active roster and it showed. Donovan Mitchell, Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert led the way as the Jazz shot 49.4% from the field and 45.7% from three-point range. They used screens and ball movement to get guys open, and the Warriors failed to rotate quickly enough defensively. Too frequently, good shooters were left wide open on three-point attempts. Furthermore, the Warriors committed a number of bad, unnecessary fouls. The Jazz found themselves in the free throw bonus early in quarters multiple times and the Warriors were unable to keep them off the line as the Jazz shot 32 free throws compared to just 14 for the Warriors. Contributing to that number for Utah were several technical foul shots, as Draymond Green was ejected following two technical fouls and Steve Kerr picked up a tech as well. Combine the fouling with a defense that simply couldn’t keep up with Utah’s very good players having a very good night, and it’s not surprising that the Jazz scored nearly 70 in the first half and 122 for the game.

The most positive takeaway from this game is that the Warriors were able to hang around for the entirety of 48 minutes. Were the Jazz ever nervous about the result? Probably not, but they were never able to run away with the game either. Every time it felt like they might do so, the Warriors managed to get a stop or score a few points. They consistently shrunk the deficit to just enough to make the Jazz work for the win in the second half.

This shows that, despite the talent disparity they faced on Monday night (and will face in future games), this Warriors team won’t quit. They will continue to fight for wins even when they are overmatched. They will never throw in the towel, even when it appears that the opponent is sure to win. The current lineup demonstrates a level of competitiveness that will benefit the team down the line, whether it comes to fruition this season or in future seasons.

The Warriors have now begun the toughest three-game stretch of the season so far. Another Western Conference contender, the Los Angeles Lakers, will welcome the Dubs to Staples Center on Wednesday before they turn around and head right back up to the Bay to play the Boston Celtics on Friday. To say that the Warriors will be underdogs in both of those games is a massive understatement. But to say that the Warriors will do everything in their power to make those games interesting and competitive is hitting the nail right on the head.

That is probably this team’s best quality. Despite turning out an active roster that doesn’t match up to most others in the league, they won’t play like it. Ever since Stephen Curry went down with his injury, they’ve been way more competitive than they should be. Of course, great efforts don’t equal wins, but they are steps in the right direction.