And so, it has ended for the Jazz.

An ugly game that got away in the second half, and then, remarkably, was almost reeled back in.

A playoff series that was dominated by a better team.

A season that even in the disappointment of four straight losses to the Spurs, the final one an 87-81 defeat at home that simply refused to be coerced into a win, could and should be recorded as a success.

Not a raging success, but a success nonetheless.

“I wouldn’t consider it a success,” Gordon Hayward said. “I consider it improvement. It’s not a success unless you win the whole thing.”

via Gordon Monson of The Salt Lake Tribune