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Jazz rookie forward Rodney Hood has been officially ruled out of Tuesday night's preseason opener against the Portland Trailblazers. Hood, a 6-foot-8 shooter out of Duke, strained a hip flexor in Monday night's team scrimmage. The injury isn't considered serious, and Jazz coach Quin Snyder said Hood is considered day-to-day with the injury. He would have an additional day of rest, with Utah playing at Portland on Thursday night. "Rodney won't play tonight," Snyder said. "We evaluated him and we thought it best to just hold him out and look at him tomorrow." That opens up time and regular rotation minutes for guys fighting over the last few spots on the team. Most notably in that would be veteran forward Dahntay Jones, and possibly combination guard Toure Murry. Jones has played well in training camp, and provides an athletic defensive presence on the wing. Murry can play both backcourt spots. He's a free agent pick-up who played last season with the New York Knicks. Both could see extensive minutes tonight. Utah has found itself a bit thin on the wings with Hood, Carrick Felix and Ian Clark all not playing due to injury."The biggest thing for them is practice," Snyder said. "That's when we can see what they're all about. This is definitely another evaluation point, so we get to see what translates from practice to the game. But certainly this is an opportunity for them."Tony Jones