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

1. A great season comes to a disappointing end

The final takeaway from Utah’s Game 5 loss to Houston on Wednesday night is that the loss officially draws a close to the season for the Jazz.

The Jazz, who reached the postseason for the third consecutive season under head coach Quin Snyder, finish with a postseason exit in the first round of the playoffs after reaching the Western Conference semifinals for the past two years.

Overall this season, Utah concluded the 2018-19 NBA campaign with a regular season record of 50-32, finishing third in the Northwest Division and fifth overall in the Western Conference standings.

This 50-win season represents the most wins by a Jazz team since the 2016-17 NBA season, when they finished 51-31. It’s also the third-highest win total secured by a Utah team in the last 10 years (51 in 2016-17 and 53 in 2009-10).

Although they did make a first round exit in the postseason at the hands of a pretty solid Rockets team — one that could very well reach the NBA Finals this season — the Jazz did put together an impressive year considering how it started early on in the regular season.

Utah was able to once again put together an unexpected run in the second half of the schedule and jump up the Western Conference standings for the second consecutive year, while advancing to the postseason for the third consecutive year.

The Jazz now enter an offseason with plenty of issues to address and an array of avenues that they can go down in terms of their flexibility with personnel heading into next season.

Although the season is now over for Utah, the real work to try and come back stronger next year is now officially underway.