London ? Jazz guard C.J. Miles will miss the start of the regular season and require surgery after suffering a ruptured ligament in his left thumb during Monday's practice at The O2 arena. The injury occurred as Miles broke his fall while going after a loose ball in a scrimmage. The Jazz were leaning toward immediately flying Miles home to Salt Lake City so he could undergo surgery as soon as possible. Having endured an injury-ravaged 2008-09 season, the Jazz now have suffered a significant injury only one game into the preseason.
Miles scored 16 points in the Jazz's exhibition opener and started 72 games last season, averaging 9.1 points and 2.3 rebounds a game.
"Certainly he worked his tail off to get himself in really good shape," Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor said. "I think we saw that in the week and a half so far that we've had.
"But injuries a part of the game and if we start to feel sorry for ourselves, then we're making a mistake."
With both Miles and Matt Harpring out, the Jazz face the prospect of starting the regular season with just 11 available players, unless they decide to carry a 14th player on their roster.
"We're over here, so it's difficult to react," O'Connor said. "I don't know what we'll do."
The Jazz will play the Chicago Bulls here in a Tuesday preseason game, then head to Spain for a Thursday game against Real Madrid.
The injury is to Miles' shooting hand as he is a lefty.
rsiler@sltrib.com
