Utah Jazz: 3 takeaways from Game 5 loss vs. Rockets

The Utah Jazz fell to the Houston Rockets in Game 5 of the Western Conference quarterfinals to have their 2018-19 season come to an end. Here are three takeaways from the Game 5 loss.

The 2018-19 NBA season has officially come to an end for the Utah Jazz.

The fifth-seeded Jazz fell to the fourth-seeded Houston Rockets in Game 5 of the Western Conference quarterfinals on Wednesday night by a score of 100-93.

With the loss, Utah drops the best-of-seven series to Houston in five games for the second straight postseason. The Rockets will advance to the Western Conference semifinals, where they will face either the Golden State Warriors or the Los Angeles Clippers.

With the series shifting back to Toyota Center in Houston for Game 5 after the two teams split a pair of contests in Games 3 and 4 in Salt Lake City, the Rockets were able to hold off the Jazz in Game 5 to come away with the win and ultimately advance to the next round of the 2019 NBA Playoffs.

For the most part in Wednesday night’s matchup, the game was fairly neck-and-neck throughout its entirety, with Houston not allowing Utah to climb its way back into things in the second half.

James Harden paced the way for the Rockets with 26 points, six rebounds, six assists, four blocks and three steals. Royce O’Neale led the Jazz in just under 33 minutes of play coming off of the bench, tallying a team-high 18 points with five rebounds.

With the series officially coming to a close, let’s revisit Wednesday night’s series-deciding Game 5 with three takeaways.