ATLANTA _ On a night when the Atlanta Hawks honored Hall of Famer "Pistol Pete" Maravich and one of the league's best long-range shooters in Kyle Korver, it appropriately rained 3s Friday night in Philips Arena.
Or were those tears of appreciation from the late Maravich falling from above?
The Cavs established a league record for 3-pointers made in a regular-season game with 25.
Korver got the record-breaker with 1:17 remaining as the Cavs connected on 25 of 46 (54.3 percent) from beyond the arc.
Korver's No. 25 also equaled the NBA mark for regular season and playoff games. The Cavs hit 25 against the Hawks in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals in Cleveland on May 5.
Despite the dazzling display, the Cavs saw the Hawks cut a 25-point deficit to one point in the fourth quarter before pulling out a 135-130 victory.
First to go on the record-setting night was the Cavs' mark of 22 3s set Dec. 7 in Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks. Next to fall was the Houston Rockets' league mark of 24, established on Dec. 17.
Even with a stable of long-range shooters and the Cavs' history from beyond the arc against the Hawks, the shooting exhibition amazed the crowd, many wearing Cavs gear.
But on an evening that Kyrie Irving and LeBron James dazzled, Korver put his name in the history books.
An emotional night for Korver didn't turn into production as he finished with nine points, hitting 3 of 8 from the field and 3 of 7 from 3-point range. That came on the heels of a 1-for-7 effort from the field against the Celtics.
But that may not have mattered to Korver. Traded by the Hawks to the Cavs on Jan. 7, Korver was greeted by a standing ovation when he entered with 3:16 left in the first quarter. After that period ended, the Hawks showed a video tribute on the Jumbotron that ended with a "Thank You Kyle" emblazoned over his No. 26 and two photos of him. Then a Hawks' camera cut to Korver, who waved to acknowledge the reception.
Most of the night the spotlight was on James and Irving.
Irving poured in 43 points, hitting 14 of 21 from the field and 5 of 8 from long range, and added two rebounds and nine assists.
James, coming off his seventh triple-double of the season Wednesday in Boston, hit the 30-point mark for the 14th time in 2016-17. He finished with 38 points (14 of 27 field goals, 6 of 10 3s), 13 rebounds and eight assists.
Tim Hardaway Jr. led the Hawks with 36 points and Paul Millsap added 27 points and nine rebounds.
In the first half, Irving and James were nearly perfect. They combined to hit 19 of 26 field goals (6 of 8 on 3-pointers) and totaled 45 of the Cavs' 77 points. At the break the Cavs had made 14 of 23 from deep for 60.9 percent.
The Cavs entered the night ranked second in the NBA in 3-pointers per game (13.1). They now have made at least 10 from beyond the arc in 14 consecutive games, two shy of the franchise record.
The Hawks also paid tribute to Maravich, whom they made the third overall pick in the 1970 draft. Maravich, who died in 1988 at age 40, played his first four seasons with the Hawks. His wife and son participated in a halftime ceremony as Maravich's No. 44 was unveiled in the arena's rafters.
The Cavs improved to 12-1 against the Hawks dating back to the 2015 playoffs. That includes sweeps in the conference finals in 2015 and in the semifinals in 2016.
The Hawks entered the night fifth in the Eastern Conference standings and are now 8{ games behind the Cavs.
The season series stands 1-1 with the two teams to meet April 7 in Cleveland and April 9 in Atlanta.
