Everything else is icing.
Kyle Korver now stands alone in the NBA record books. The guard set the all-time league mark with a 3-pointer in 90 consecutive games. He broke the mark of 89 he shared with Dana Barros for two just days. Barros had held the record since January 1996.
Now it belongs to just Korver.
“It feels good,” Korver said. “I’m glad it’s done. My naps the last couple of games haven’t been very solid. I try not to think about getting this close and not getting it. That would not have been fun. I’m proud of it for sure.”
The record breaking 3-pointer came with 5:29 remaining in the first quarter of the Hawks 108-89 rout of the Cavaliers Friday night at Philips Arena. It was part of a first-quarter Hawks onslaught.
The Hawks scored 37 points in the opening period, a season high for any quarter. They led by 17 points, 37-20, after the first quarter when Paul Millsap hit a 50-footer at the buzzer. The Hawks shot 60 percent (15 of 25) in the opening 12 minutes. The Hawks extended the lead to 24 points with a 12-2 run to start the second quarter. They held a 63-43 halftime lead, a season-best for points in a first half. The lead grew to as many as 29 points in the third quarter.
At the timeout following Korver’s record breaker, the team showed a video tribute celebrating the achievement. Korver was greeted by teammates as he came off the floor. Korver addressed his teammates in the locker room following the game to express his thanks for their role in the accomplishment. His teammates thanked him for earned a day off Saturday.
Korver had family in town – but not for the occasion of an NBA record.
“Yeah, they came for my daughter’s birthday, not for me,” Korver said. “She turned one yesterday and they happened to be in town and got to enjoy it.”
The Hawks (11-10, 7-3 home) won their second straight in impressive fashion after a victory over the Clippers Wednesday. In both wins the Hawks’ only deficit came at 2-0.
Seven Hawks scored in double-figures in the complete game effort. Al Horford led the way with 22 points. Millsap (16 points), Jeff Teague (13), Lou Williams (13), Cartier Martin (12), DeMarre Carroll (10) and Korver (10) were the others. Millsap had a double-double with 14 rebounds. He has a 3-pointer in six straight games – only 84 more to go – and is 10 of 20 from long range in the span.
“We’ve been talking about playing better for longer stretches, making our good play last and extend those stretches,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “This was one of the better nights of doing that – on both ends of the court. I think our defensive effort and activity was good. The purpose and the pace of which we played for offensively was good. I like the way our group started tonight in all those areas.”
The Cavaliers (6-13, league-worst 1-10 road) had a two-game win streak snapped.
Dion Waiters led the Cavaliers with game-high 30 points. Andrew Bynum added 20 points and 13 rebounds. Kyrie Irving, who entered the game averaging 25.4 points in his previous five games against the Hawks, was held scoreless for the first time in his carrer and had just four assists.
This night belonged to Korver.
“I wish I would have had the assist,” Teague joked. “I wanted to go down in history too. No, I think it was a relief for the whole team. I think you can see at the beginning of the game we were trying to force it to get the ball to him. I think DeMarre passed up a wide-open shot trying to get it to him in the corner. I did the same thing in transition. We were excited for him to do it. It’s a great record.”
Gustavo Ayon suffered a left ankle sprain and left leg contusion in the closing minutes of the game.
The Hawks continue their four-game homestand Tuesday against the Thunder.
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