Utah Jazz: Top 8 most disappointing aspects of first-round loss to Houston

2 of 9

SALT LAKE CITY, UT – APRIL 9: Kyle Korver #26 of the Utah Jazz and Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz smile after a game against the Denver Nuggets on April 9, 2019 at vivint.SmartHome Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images) /

#8 Didn’t get to see how Jazz could have fared with healthy Exum, Korver

Make no mistake about it, due to Utah under-performing in this first-round series against the Houston Rockets, there will likely be changes this summer that directly correlate to what was shown in the matchup. Players may be moved on from or traded based largely on the result of the battle between Utah and Houston.

And the fact that said battle took place without the Jazz at full strength certainly makes that truth all the more difficult. If Utah had been fully healthy, they may have challenged the Rockets further and perhaps even done some more damage in later rounds. Under those circumstances, maybe Utah’s outlook of the current roster wouldn’t have seemed so bleak. Instead, necessary changes were overwhelmingly evident and it’s clear that the team will likely undergo major modifications this summer.

But had Dante Exum been in action and had Kyle Korver been one hundred percent healthy, we might have seen a different team and a better result. Despite all of Exum’s shortcomings, he deserves credit for being one of the better defenders at holding James Harden in check. In last year’s postseason, he was easily Utah’s best option for containing the Bearded One.

Kyle Korver did not have a good series at all, but he was far from at his best health-wise. Korver missed a significant portion of the end of the regular season with a knee injury, and it clearly bothered him in each game. He never left the bench in Game 5 after posting just two minutes in Game 4.

That’s much different than how he performed in the regular season. Korver excelled at stretching the floor for the Jazz and was a reliable 3-point shooter that brought Utah’s offense to a whole new level. From the time the Jazz traded for him until the end of the regular season, Utah boasted a top-10 team in terms of offensive rating. Considering their offensive struggles in the series against Houston, this help from Korver would have been greatly appreciated.

But, alas, the Jazz had neither Exum nor a healthy Korver. Had both of them been at full speed, it very well could have resulted in a different series. But we’ll never know for sure. And that is undoubtedly disappointing.

Home/Jazz News