CLEVELAND (Ohio) • He became one of seven players with at least 2,000 three-pointers in his career and tortured the Indiana Pacers for the last week.
Yet none of that pleases Kyle Korver as much as his dunk. The Cleveland Cavaliers guard may be good at shooting threes, but he is only good for about one dunk a year.
It came on Wednesday in the Cavs' 113-104 win over the Pacers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), sending the best team in the East (39-16) into the All-Star break as winners in seven of their last eight games.
Korver scored 22 points, LeBron James had 31 points and Kyrie Irving added 26 points. Korver's dominance over the Pacers (29-27), though, was somehow even more compelling than James and Irving's, both of whom are heading to New Orleans for Sunday's All-Star game.
He shot six-of-eight on three-pointers and made 14 of 17 from deep in two games against the Pacers over the course of the last week. The Cavs also won that Feb 8 meeting - 132-117.
But it was that dunk with 3min 50sec left that put the Cavs 108-92 ahead that had Korver smiling.
"I just need one a year," said the 2.01m-tall guard. "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."
His corner three-pointer early in the second quarter put him in an exclusive club, joining Ray Allen, Reggie Miller, Jason Terry, Paul Pierce, Jamal Crawford and Vince Carter as the only players to make 2,000 career treys.
"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."
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 recovering from knee surgery.
The Cavs are 7-1 this month, 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 a five-game losing streak.
Jeff Teague recorded 15 points and 11 assists and Glenn Robinson III scored 19 points.
Myles Turner had 15 points and seven rebounds and Monta Ellis scored 14 points off the bench.
Paul George scored 13, but missed 12 consecutive shots between the first and fourth quarters.
"It was just one of those games I couldn't buy a basket at all. I felt great.
"Shot the ball well in warm-ups. But it was just one of those nights."
REUTERS
