Miles shines on both ends in victory News Boston Celtics

Utah Jazz swingman C.J. Miles is still only 21 years old, but he's an old pro in that he is now playing in his fourth season for Jerry Sloan. He knows impressing his veteran coach isn't about making a 3-point jumper or slamming home a fast-break dunk. Miles knows by now that the key to making his coach happy ?

and keeping himself on the court for longer stretches of time ? is all about the other side of the court. Sloan is more impressed by defensive effort. To that end, Sloan, for the most part, liked what he saw from Miles on Tuesday night at EnergySolutions Arena as the Jazz downed the Memphis Grizzlies, 117-99. Miles scored a game-high 24 points, but Sloan wanted to only talk about his young swingman's defense afterward. "(Miles) tried to get up and play the guys that he's guarding," said Sloan. "He's long, he's rangy and he's got to learn to do that because people are going to attack him. ... I thought he played pretty well defensively." Miles, who spent part of the Jazz's previous game trying to slow down Lakers star Kobe Bryant, had another tall order defensively this time around. He split time defending the Grizzlies' two best players, Rudy Gay and rookie O.J. Mayo. Both managed 18 points, but the scoring didn't come easily. "Those are two very skilled guys," Miles said of Gay and Mayo. "I just tried to get up and play them as tight as I could. I tried to get in their face and make them work for their shots. They are going to make some shots. They make a lot of pretty tough shots. But I feel I did a pretty good job of making them work to get their points." Meanwhile, Miles was big for the Jazz on the other end of the court as well. He made two of his three 3-point attempts, all four of his foul shots and a couple of highlight-reel worthy dunks in more than doubling his season scoring average. "It felt good tonight," said Miles. "I got in rhythm early, got some wide open looks and got some dunks and just tried to work hard to get some deflections and steals so we could get the break going and make the game a lot easier for myself." Miles, like most of his teammates, got away for a few days during the All-Star break. He went home to Texas. He ? and the rest of the team, for that matter ? looked like having some time off was beneficial. "We came back from the break with a lot of energy," said Miles. "Everybody had a couple of lapses during the game, but we did a good job ? especially in the second half." Miles won't have much time to celebrate his strong outing. He'll once again have his work cut out for him on Thursday night when the defending champion Boston Celtics play their only game of the season in Utah. Miles will draw the assignment of trying to guard veteran All-Stars Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. But Miles thinks he's up to it. "I like a challenge," he said. E-mail: lojo@desnews.com