CLEVELAND: Kyle Korver ascended into rare air Wednesday night. The Indiana Pacers won’t mind if he stays there.
Korver scored 22 points off the bench Wednesday and became the seventh player in NBA history to make 2,000 3-pointers in a career in the Cavaliers’ 113-104 victory.
LeBron James scored 31 points, his 13th 30-point game of the season, and Kyrie Irving scored 26 points and passed for seven assists, but Korver’s dominance over the Pacers was somehow even more impressive than James and Irving, both of whom are heading to New Orleans now for Sunday’s All-Star Game.
Korver shot 6-of-8 on 3-pointers Wednesday, including a heave from 31 feet midway through the third quarter. It splashed through the net just like the rest of them. Korver scored 13 points in the fourth quarter Wednesday and shot 14-of-17 from deep in two games against the Pacers over the course of the last week.
The Cavs went into the All-Star break on a three-game win streak and winners of seven of their last eight. They have the best record in the East at the break for the second consecutive season despite playing most of the half without J.R. Smith and recently losing Kevin Love to knee surgery. Still, they have persisted.
“Injuries are a part of the game,” James said. “We hate that it happened to our All-Star, but we have guys that are ready to go. Not feeling sorry for ourselves.”
The Pacers, meanwhile, have followed a seven-game winning streak with a five-game losing streak. They still have one more to go Thursday against the Washington Wizards before entering the break.
Jeff Teague scored 15 points and passed for 11 assists and Glenn Robinson III scored 19 points for the Pacers. Paul George scored 13, but missed 12 consecutive shots until finally making a 3-pointer with 5:15 left after the game was already out of reach. Prior to that, George’s last basket was a driving layup to put the Pacers ahead 22-15 with 4:52 left in the first quarter.
The Cavs have already matched their win total from January, when they limped through a 7-8 month that included James ripping the organization and everyone else in his path. Now they’re 7-1 in February with four games left following the break.
Tristan Thompson scored 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and Channing Frye had eight rebounds in his second start in place of Love, who remains in New York rehabbing from knee surgery.
Myles Turner had 15 points and seven rebounds for the Pacers and Monta Ellis scored 14 points off the bench.
Korver, meanwhile, joins a club that includes Ray Allen, Reggie Miller, Jason Terry, Paul Pierce, Jamal Crawford and Vince Carter. Jason Kidd retired just 12 3-pointers shy of the elite club.
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.