Last season’s Western Conference Semifinals featured an exciting matchup between the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets. Although the Rockets managed to easily come away with a victory in five games, many were left wondering just what the future held for what was a surprising Jazz team. After all, had they had starting point guard Ricky Rubio, who had been playing great at the time, for the series, things could have gone differently.
Either way, the Jazz looked like a top team in the West after making it to the second round of the playoffs and many presumed that with internal development, they’d be even better this year.