Jazz limp home from the road. Can they be revived by some home cooking?

The Jazz can take away some positive things from an Eastern Conference road trip that saw them lose three of four.

At the same time, a 1-3 record out east leaves the Jazz with a sobering reality: Life is going to be difficult for the next month without Rudy Gobert.

Gobert is Utah’s defensive anchor who has proven to be a dynamic offensive force. Without his presence, it may not matter how the rest of the Jazz play. They don’t have the manpower to compete with other teams that possess players with all-star ability.

“We do have to get better,” Jazz shooting guard Rodney Hood said. “We’re playing better and we played really well in spots. We just have to build on them.”

The Jazz were victimized by star forward Kristaps Porzingis, who took over the game down the stretch in a loss to the New York Knicks last Wednesday. It was Ben Simmons who imposed his will on a Utah defense playing without its goalie in Monday’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Gobert only could watch in tailor-made suits as the Sixers scored an abundance of points in the paint against the Jazz in the lane. Jazz defenders did exactly what they were supposed to schematically on many possessions. It still wasn’t enough against Simmons and Joel Embiid.

That’s where losing such a dynamic player like Gobert hurts most for Utah. Coaching matters in the NBA but only takes a team so far. So a team like the Jazz, who are injured and undermanned in multiple key spots, is going to have a difficult time against healthy opponents.

This road trip told that tale.

“We played some good games, but it wasn’t enough,” Utah point guard Ricky Rubio said. “I think we have to learn how to be consistent. We have to find our heart and play with more aggression and more passion. It’s something we have to do.”

Utah’s margin for error was slim at the beginning of training camp with a healthy roster. It’s ice-thin now. With a 7-11 record and three home games upcoming, the best chance for the Jazz to have success without Gobert is to play with a ton of energy every game, make shots and defend well enough to survive.

Only it’s hardly plausible for NBA teams to find that kind of energy every game. It was there for the Jazz in Saturday’s 40 point win over the Orlando Magic. They shot the ball well, defended with vigor and were able to halt a three game losing streak with a gem of a performance.

But they clearly were fatigued Monday. It was Utah’s third game in four nights. Their travel schedule — New York to Florida then back to Philadelphia — wasn’t ideal. And their legs were heavy against the 76ers.

“It’s the NBA, so we have to deal with it,” Jazz power forward Derrick Favors said. “This was definitely a tough road trip for us overall. We got some good out of it and we got some bad out of it. But we have to learn from it and move on. We have to get better.”

The Jazz did some good things. Saturday’s win over the Magic was the best they’ve played all season and shows what they can be when performing at a high level. And, Monday’s performance not withstanding, the Jazz have figured out a few things offensively. The ball movement is more consistent, shots are falling at a more consistent pace and Hood has found a groove coming off the bench.

He’s still not exactly thrilled with being moved to a sixth man role, but Hood is thriving in it. He’s averaging 21.4 points while shooting 47 percent from the field and 45 percent from 3-point range in his last five games. He’s played loose and aggressive basketball, and perhaps most importantly, he’s stayed aggressive through misses.

“Rodney’s imposed his will on the offense,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said.

Snyder still is trying to figure out the back end of his rotation — it’s changing game to game — but at least he knows he’s solved one of his biggest puzzles.

Still, here are the facts: The Jazz have lost eight of their last 10 games. They are four games under .500 and facing a December schedule that may be the most difficult stretch of any NBA team.

There’s a good chance the Jazz will have a significant hole to dig out of by Christmas if they don’t figure out some things.

“We have to right the ship,” Favors said. “There’s a lot of stuff we can improve on, but we have to get better. We will. We just have to stick with it.”