Danny Granger can shrug off food poisoning just as he does a low shooting percentage.
The Indiana Pacers' leading scorer insists it's nothing to worry about.
After missing one game with an unexpected illness that kept him confined to a Philadelphia hotel room, Granger awoke from a slow start to the year with a season-high 24 points to lead the Pacers to a 96-84 victory over Atlanta on Wednesday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
"The good thing about food poisoning is (it's) in and out. Once it comes in, it goes out a variety of ways," he said, laughing. "When it's gone, it's gone.
"I felt fine. I was more worried about my ankle. I sprained my left one a few days ago. I was more worried about that than anything."
Granger, who entered with a 30.7 field goal percentage, sank 9-of-16 shots, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range.
The Pacers (7-3) put away the Hawks (7-4) with a 27-9 third quarter in which Granger had 12 points. Indiana is off to its best start since 2005-06. Granger notes that is what matters most.
"It's crazy to make a big deal about how I'm shooting," he said. "We're 7-3, and people want to talk about how I'm shooting. We're winning. I don't care. If I shoot like this the whole season and we win an NBA championship, is anybody going to say anything about it? No.
"I don't know why it was a big deal, but everybody wanted to make a big deal out of it. But I never did. This is my seventh year in the league. I know what to expect."
Pacers coach Frank Vogel concerned himself more with the team's tempo as it tried to regroup from a 10-point loss to the 76ers. When the Pacers had a chance to get out in transition in the third quarter, they did.
The Hawks took their last lead at 50-49 on Jeff Teague's layup late in the second quarter. Teague, an Indianapolis native who played at Pike High School, had a rough night with just five points in 28 minutes.
The home team closed the half with four points, then put the throttle down in the third. The lead swelled to as many as 24 in the fourth.
"I thought we came out in the second half and once we got them down, we kept them down," said forward David West, who had 12 points.
Center Roy Hibbert also scored 12 and had four blocks. He blocked Al Horford on back-to-back shots late in the opening quarter. Horford landed hard after the second and exited the game not to return with a strained left shoulder. The Hawks were already without injured forward Marvin Williams.
After losing nine straight to the Hawks, the Pacers have now beaten them twice in a row.
Reserve guard Lance Stephenson also contributed 12 points, the most in his brief 19-game career over two seasons.
"We just continue to play together," West said.
"We've got a lot of options on this team."
But when Granger -- a career 18.2-point scorer who averaged 25.8 three years ago -- is playing well, the Pacers click even more.
"We came ready to play," Hibbert said.
"If somebody's hot, we're going to keep going to him. We're happy (Granger) was hitting tonight, and we have the utmost confidence in him in his shot. Like I've said before, his shots, he's not going to keep missing."
Call Star reporter Phillip B. Wilson at (317) 444-6642. Follow him at twitter.com/indystar_pwilson24
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