National Basketball Association
Cleveland 113, Indiana 104
When: 7:00 PM ET, Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Where: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Officials:
#61 Courtney Kirkland, #41 Ken Mauer, #31 Scott Wall
Attendance:
20562
By The Sports Xchange
CLEVELAND -- He is one of seven players with at least 2,000 3-pointers in his career and he has tortured the Indiana Pacers for the last week. Yet none of that pleases Kyle Korver as much as his dunk.
Korver might be good for 2,000 3s in a career, but he is only good for about one dunk a year. It came Wednesday in the Cleveland Cavaliers' 113-104 win over the Indiana Pacers, which sent the best team in the East into the All-Star break winners in seven of their last eight games.
Korver scored 22 points, LeBron James scored 31 points for his 13th 30-point game of the season and Kyrie Irving scored 26 points. Korver's dominance over the Pacers, though, was somehow even more compelling than James and Irving, both of whom are heading to New Orleans for Sunday's All-Star game.
Korver shot 6 of 8 on 3-pointers, 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 and made 14 of 17 from deep in two games against the Pacers over the course of the last week. But it was that dunk with 3:50 left that put the Cavs ahead 108-92 that had Korver smiling.
"I just need one a year," Korver said. "I don't need to be in a contest, I don't need any highlights. Just for my personal well-being. I need to know that I can still get up there and put one down."
Korver thought he had one earlier in the game until his former Hawks teammates Jeff Teague ran him down.
"I was like, 'C'mon Jeff,'" Korver said. "I thought that was my chance."
Tristan Thompson scored 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and Channing Frye had eight rebounds in his second start in place of Kevin Love, who remains in New York rehabbing from knee surgery.
The Cavs head into the All-Star break on a three-game winning streak. 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 Love. Still, they have persisted. The Cavs are 7-1 in February, already matching their win total from a dreary 7-8 January.
"We've played some good ball," James said. "Obviously we know January wasn't such a good month for us, but overall, for the season, we're in a good place."
The Pacers, meanwhile, followed a seven-game win streak with their current five-game losing streak. They still have one more game to go Thursday against the Washington Wizards as they try to snap a three-game losing streak at home before entering the break.
Teague recorded 15 points and 11 assists and Glenn Robinson III scored 19 points for the Pacers. Myles Turner had 15 points and seven rebounds for the Pacers and Monta Ellis scored 14 points off the bench.
Paul George scored 13, but missed 12 consecutive shots between the first and fourth quarters.
"I had looks that I've had all season," George said. "It was just one of those games I couldn't buy a basket at all. I felt great. Shot the ball well in warmups. I made the first shot, made the first couple. It was just one of those nights for me."
George's 3-pointer with 5:15 left, after the game was already out of reach, ended the slump. 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.
"He missed some open looks," Pacers coach Nate McMillan said. "He missed a couple layups. Sometimes you have those nights. He's working hard on the defensive end of the floor. It didn't look like he had legs, had lift. It kind of looked like he had heavy legs."
Korver's corner 3-pointer early in the second quarter lifted him into the exclusive club. He joins Ray Allen, Reggie Miller, Jason Terry, Paul Pierce, Jamal Crawford and Vince Carter as the only players to make 2,000 in a career. Jason Kidd retired just 12 3-pointers shy of the elite club.
"It means something to me for sure," Korver said. "I've always taken a lot of pride in shooting and studying it and thinking about it and trying to be better, and obviously I'm working on it every day. I remember when I was much farther down the list. You just keep working every day and you keep giving it what you have and you get put on great teams like this and you get some good looks. So I'm sure it will sink in more later, but it's nice."
NOTES: Pacers F/C Lavoy Allen missed his second straight game with a sore right knee. He participated in pregame drills, but couldn't play. ... Pacers coach Nate McMillan said Kevin Love's absence is minimized for the Cavs because LeBron James is still healthy. "LeBron's not out. It's a very talented team," McMillan said. "They lose some key guys. They're not stressing about that. It's still the regular season and they feel they can get through this next month or so with the group they have. LeBron and Kyrie are still major, major factors on that team." ... The Cavs improved to 16-1 when Kyrie Irving scores at least 25 points and passes for at least five assists. ... Tristan Thompson remains 11 blocks shy of passing Jim Brewer for ninth place on the franchise's all-time list after not recording one Wednesday.
Top Game Performances
Indiana |
|
Cleveland |
Glenn Robinson III 19 |
Scoring |
LeBron James 31 |
Jeff Teague 11 |
Assists |
Kyrie Irving 7 |
Paul George 7 |
Rebounds |
Tristan Thompson 12 |
CJ Miles 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Kyrie Irving 9 |
Monta Ellis 1 |
Steals |
Kyrie Irving 2 |
Myles Turner 1 |
Blocks |
Kyle Korver 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Indiana
|
104 |
46.5 |
12-24 |
12-14 |
30 |
43 |
1 |
2 |
12 |
Cleveland
|
113 |
47.6 |
18-39 |
17-19 |
23 |
40 |
2 |
6 |
8 |
Upcoming Games
-
Cleveland will play their next game at home against New York. The Cavaliers have a W/L % of .711 after a win and .706 after a loss.
-
Indiana will play their next game at home against Washington. The Pacers have a W/L % of .517 after a win and .519 after a loss.