Before Game 3, Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger admitted his team might’ve taken the Orlando Magic lightly once Dwight Howard was ruled out for the season.

“You lose a player like Dwight, the best center in the game, and it’s human nature to have kind of a letdown,” Granger told reporters. “That’s a lot of the reason they got us in Game 1.”

It took a Game 1 loss to wake the Pacers up.

After a dominant Game 3 victory, the Pacers look primed to lay this series to rest.

Danny Granger scored an efficient 26 points and Roy Hibbert continued to dominate Orlando’s undersized frontcourt as the Pacers won 97-74, taking a 2-1 series lead and showing their Game 1 loss may have indeed been a fluke.

“Game 1, they were the better team, point blank,” Pacers forward David West said. “But I think we’ve got to the point where we’re watching film and making the right adjustments and doing what’s necessary for us to win.”

via Zach McCann of ESPN