Jazz shootaround: Utah looks for a road win against the Clippers in battle between two injury-plagued teams

Los Angeles • It’s only November, but Joe Ingles already is calling for one head to roll.

Rudy Gobert’s stylist.

From a tailored red suit during the Utah Jazz’s trip to New York to a leopard-print shirt that caught Twitter’s attention Tuesday night, Ingles has not been a fan of Gobert’s wardrobe choices.

“It’s not my style,” he said. “We gave it to him a little in the locker room. I honestly thought he was joking. I didn’t think he was going to wear it out there.”

But Gobert’s flamboyant style on the bench underscores an issue that’s actually important to the Jazz. The 7-foot-1 center and several other Jazzmen haven’t been able to suit up in uniform.

That trend will continue Thursday night against the Los Angeles Clippers, when Rodney Hood (ankle soreness) and Raul Neto (hamstring soreness) will sit out. It’s not ideal for a team that already is missing Gobert, Joe Johnson and Dante Exum for the long term. It may be a night when Royce O’Neale and Nate Wolters get playing time with a frightfully short rotation.

The good (sort of) news for the Jazz is that the Clippers are arguably even more fraught with injury. DeAndre Jordan will be the only player from the season-opening starting lineup healthy for the game.

Utah is trying to turn around a 1-7 road record. The Jazz are the only team in the Western Conference with only one road victory. A big part of that has been missing pieces, coach Quin Snyder said.

“Having our team would be good for starters,” he said. “Anytime you’re going to play without four guys in your rotation, it’s going to be harder.”