Los Angeles Clippers aim to instigate the action against the Utah Jazz

If anything, the Clippers have concluded over the last two days, they can’t let the Utah Jazz be the sole instigators of all the action in their first-round playoff series.

“The point is we have to join in,” Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said. “They’re still going to do what they do. They should. That’s who they are. But we didn’t do what we usually do. So when you have two teams who are both trying to instigate action, it’s a better game. It’s a better game for us. I don’t know if we can take it away from them. I think we just have to do it ourselves.”

Undoubtedly, the first provocation wasn’t delivered by the Clippers, who are down 1-0 to the Jazz in the best-of-seven series that resumes Tuesday night at Staples Center.

Rivers knows how his team can initiate things.

“Just hitting first. Engaging first,” he said. “I thought they engaged first in everything. They blew up a lot of our dribble handoffs — a lot of things where we just went to the ball instead of engaging them and getting into it first. It’s simple, but you have to do it.”

Clippers unfazed about Redick

On the surface, the Clippers weren’t overly concerned about Utah’s concentrated effort to ground J.J. Redick.

By keeping defenders close to Redick, the Jazz limited the Clippers’ shooting guard to only six shots; he made three and scored seven points.

Utah’s guards stayed attached as much as possible to Redick and also ran him off the three-point line. Utah’s big men slowed the constantly moving Redick by stepping in front of him and not giving him a direct line to his spots on the court.

When asked how the Clippers were going to get Redick going, Rivers said he wasn’t worried about the team’s proficient three-point shooter getting more involved.

“I don’t worry about that, because in the past when teams have paid a lot of attention to J.J., it opens up other things for other guys and we end up scoring,” Rivers said. “I thought we spent too much time trying to get J.J. going, quite honestly. I think J.J. is going to get going. We’re going to get him shots. But when we’re not getting him shots, we should be getting layups and other shots. We didn’t do either one.”

Injury update

Reserve guard Austin Rivers, who has sat out the Clippers’ last seven games because of a left hamstring injury, will not play in Game 2. Doc Rivers said that his son was “probably out for Game 3 as well.”…Jazz center Rudy Gobert, who suffered a hyperextension and bruise bone in his left knee early in Saturday’s game, won’t play in Game 2.

broderick.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @BA_Turner