Sure.
But again, we aren't better than the Spurs, especially not without Hayward. Splitting with them wasn't a disappointing result and especially not a "bad loss" or "expected win".
Yeah, not a bad loss at all. As for the rest...
Not this year. Jazz are better than the Spurs. Tehy'll (the Spurs will) be all goody two-shoes and play hard on their way to a cute regular season record, but they aren't better than the Jazz this season. Look at how the Clippers tap that ***. I mean, they lost to the Clippers the last time they met up in the postseason - first round two seasons ago. They had that crazy regular season record last year, swept an incredibly short-handed Memphis team in the first round, and then lost to OKC in the second round. They are an okay bet to have the 2nd best Western Conference regular season record these days just because of how consistent their effort is from game to game (although, I believe the Clippers will finish 2nd), but at the start of the new season (playoffs), when every team is playing its absolute hardest, they aren't as formidable as that regular season record says they should be.
Spurs got soft bigs and tiny point guards. Leonard is def the best player between the Jazz, Spurs, and the Clippers, but beyond that they are a meh bunch (and by that I mean they're good, just not as good as the Clippers or Jazz this season - more talent on both these teams tbh)
But they won a bunch of championships in the not-too-distant past, and have been better than the Jazz for the past umpteen seasons, so there is no possible way the Jazz can be better than them this year. The Jazz have never even won the NBA Finals. It would be preposterous for them to have a more talented team than the almighty Spurs who start Tony Parker and Kyle Anderson. <--- The narrative
