Utah Jazz: Miles still smiles despite fewer minutes

C.J. Miles was kind of hoping he might get a few more minutes on Wednesday night after that career-best, 29-point ballgame he had on Monday, but he also knew that Andrei Kirilenko was back starting after missing three games with a bruised calf.

"I mean, yeah, of course, a game like last one, I have hopes of getting in more every game, especially feeling as confident as I am after the last game," said Miles, who went from playing a season-high 30 minutes against Washington to a minute below his average of 12:10 minutes a game Wednesday in EnergySolutions Arena against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Jazz won the game 117-100. Miles scored five, making both of his shorter-range shots and missing his two 3-point tries — with the shot clock running down, he said.

"That's my role. I've been in and out of it all year," Miles said, "knowing that if somebody comes back that my time is going to go down.

"I still got a chance to get into the game, make some plays. Every time I get to play, I try to stay ready. I didn't play until the second half today, but I think I made a couple plays and just tried to play aggressively."

Coach Jerry Sloan, having been asked already what he said about 15 times, apparently by fans, Wednesday night about why Miles played so little, said the biggest thing was Kirilenko being back.

"Andrei didn't lose a job because he got hurt," Sloan said. "He has the job to lose now that he's healthy — if there's such a thing."

But he also asked if anybody who wanted to see more Miles had seen the two games prior to Monday's, when Sloan said the youngster played deficient defense. "That's the typical thing when somebody comes out and scores, they never talk about any other part of it."

Sloan also brought up how Miles didn't play as a free agent in the Rocky Mountain Revue last summer, wanting to avoid injury as he sought another offer to play but wound up re-signing with the Jazz.

"That's why we have to make decisions," Sloan said. "There's not animosity, we have to make decisions on what we think is best for our team, not what the fans think."

Miles has done a pretty good job handling the ins and outs of Sloan's system, according to a couple of his teammates.

Kyle Korver, who plays the same positions and sometimes gets more minutes than other times, said they both understand the situation.