Utah Jazz: Iranian team finds support at Revue

He was among the many who seemed to soak in the whole night — from the raucous crowd, to the incessant kazoo honker to the tender thought, and, oh yeah, maybe even the basketball game.

"It was wonderful. It was the greatest experience," Rigby said. "They brought a great crowd. They were into it. They were blowing horns all game and cheering. It's been a lot of fun. I think it's fun for our fans to see the passion the Iranians have for their team and basketball."

Guard Morris Almond hinted that the Jazz could have gone with a little less kazooing — some attendees might have woken up in the middle of the night hearing its tones and reaching for the snooze button — but he definitely appreciated the ambiance.

"It was an experience," Almond said. "The crowd definitely made it a vibrant atmosphere, but once we kind of settled down we played our basketball game."

Almond joked that he predicted the kazoo player was "gonna give out by halftime." That might have been wishful thinking, he added, because "he didn't give out, though, so that's a credit to them and their enthusiasm."

Iran gave its supporters plenty to cheer about early on, building an 11-point first-quarter lead. The Jazz, however, used a 15-0 spurt in the second quarter to seize control of the game — though not the crowd.

Hiram Fuller, who sparked Utah in the second quarter, led the Jazz with 11 points, Almond had 10 and 10 other players scored at least four.

In Monday's other Revue games:

DALLAS 84, SAN ANTONIO 77: Gerald Green, Boston's first-round draft choice in 2005, scored a game-high 27 points and shot 8-of-15 as the Mavericks improved to 2-1. Green has been Dallas' top scorer in all three of its Revue games, averaging 20.7 points per game. George Hill, San Antonio's first-round pick this year, led the Spurs with 18.

GOLDEN STATE 101, NEW JERSEY 84: Undrafted George Tech guard Anthony Morrow led the Warriors with 23 points and shot 10-of-18 from the field in Golden State's Revue opener. Free agent Julius Hodge, who has played briefly for Denver and Milwaukee, led New Jersey with 20 points. Undrafted Utah State product Jaycee Carroll started and played 19 minutes for the Nets, but had just two points on 1-of-7 field shooting.

ATLANTA 74, D-LEAGUE AMBASSADORS 70: Former Cleveland, Los Angeles Clippers, Toronto and Miami swingman Luke Jackson shot just 1-of-8 from the field but hit 10-for-12 from the free-throw line to lead the Hawks with 13 points off the bench.

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