As he talked about the dislocated index finger on his left hand at Friday's pregame shootaround in San Antonio, C.J. Miles sounded as if he wouldn't make his return until the start of the playoffs.
There was no practice time for Miles to test the finger, which he injured in an April 3 loss to Minnesota, with the Jazz in the midst of a stretch of four games in five nights to finish the regular season. "I felt the same way," Miles said, "but they let me push it, see how far I could go. I was able to get better the last couple days, being able to work out in Dallas with the ball instead of just doing weights and conditioning stuff."
As a result, Miles was back in the starting lineup Saturday against Golden State after sitting out three games. His return turned out to be almost perfectly timed with the week he was told to expect to miss.
"That was just being cautious," Miles said. "It was sore still, but after being able to really be able to shoot and really be able to handle the ball and do some stuff, I felt good today."
Miles had hoped to return before the end of the regular season and will have three games to get back his rhythm. "That's the biggest thing, too," he said. "I didn't want my first game back to be a playoff game, either."
With Jazz coach Jerry Sloan believing no player should be supplanted because of an injury, Miles started Saturday while Andrei Kirilenko came off the bench after going 1-for-9 in Friday's loss to the Spurs.
The injury is to Miles' shooting hand, and he had his index and middle fingers taped Saturday. He was confident that it would not affect him on the court. "I actually shot pretty well with it," Miles said pregame.
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Seven up
The Warriors were missing their top four scorers Saturday as Stephen Jackson (toe surgery), Jamal Crawford (strained lower back), Monta Ellis (sore left ankle) and Corey Maggette (concussion) all did not make the trip.
With Brandan Wright and Jermareo Davidson also injured, the Warriors were down to only seven available players. They had to dress Marco Belinelli (sprained right ankle) to have the NBA-minimum eight players available.
It also was the second game of a back-to-back set for Golden State. Kelenna Azubuike played all 48 minutes in Friday's loss to Houston, C.J. Watson would have joined him before fouling out with two seconds left and Anthony Morrow played 46 minutes.
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Take your pick
With San Antonio, Houston and Portland all winning Friday, the Jazz were assured of retaining their first-round pick in June's NBA Draft. The Jazz traded a protected pick to Philadelphia as part of last season's Kyle Korver trade, but will not send it this year.
The pick was protected Nos. 1-22 this year, and the Jazz will finish with no better than the league's ninth-best record this season. The pick is protected Nos. 1-15 in 2010, when the Jazz are due New York's unprotected first-round pick.
rsiler@sltrib.com
