Utah Jazz: C.J. Miles has miles of smiles in the postseason

SALT LAKE CITY — Only two months ago, C.J. Miles was feeling the heat — from himself and others. His game hadn't bounced back like he'd hoped from preseason thumb surgery, and the happy-go-lucky southpaw felt awful.

His shot was as off as the pressure was on. The smiles you see on his face now during the playoffs were forced, if they were there.

A 1-for-10 shooting night against Charlotte on Feb. 24 didn't help.

That night, in response to criticism by fans, the struggling Miles acknowledged that he'd been chucking up clunkers and hadn't been playing up to his potential. He claimed to be "mentally goin' crazy" and even showed rare remorse on his Twitter account: "I apologize for my play to all Tha fans. I am better and will be better."

Give the young man props. Not only did he smash a stereotype that millionaire athletes don't feel accountable to fans, but he also kept his word.

Miles, as he promised to his social-media followers, is much better now.

"You look at C.J. Miles and the growth in his game over the last couple of months," Jazz guard Kyle Korver said. "It's been amazing."

Funny, because that's the same description Miles, whose efficiency has skyrocketed since his apology, used to describe the biggest role he's ever had in the playoffs.

Miles has already scored twice as many points and played four more minutes this postseason against the Denver Nuggets in two games than he did in five first-round games last year against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Miles' game has seemingly come, well, kilometers since he hit bottom in February — and especially since he filled in for the injured Andrei Kirilenko as the Jazz's starting small forward a month ago. He shot 49.6 percent from the field post-apology to end the regular season compared to a 42.8-percent clip before his humble tweet.

Better yet for the Jazz, the 23-year-old has been a solid contributor for the first time in the playoffs. Giving his team a much-needed extra offensive weapon, Miles has averaged 31 minutes, 17 points — up from his 9.9 points per game season average — and four assists while helping Utah snatch homecourt advantage from Denver.

And he's smiling a lot.