Candace Buckner

IndyStar

NEW YORK – Before facing the Brooklyn Nets, C.J. Miles acknowledged his recent shooting struggles. Throughout his career, Miles has been a streaky shooter, but this past month his slump could've inspired an Adele song. It was that sad.

Since Jan. 13, Miles has made just 4-of-39 shots from the 3-point arc. Over that same 10-game stretch, Miles' field goal percentage skydived to .264 as he looked less and less relevant in the Indiana Pacers' identity shift.

Nevertheless, Miles has stayed optimistic and took responsibility, saying it would be up to him to “figure it out.” On Wednesday, Miles more than found his way out of the funk during the Pacers’ 114-100 thrashing of the Nets.

BOX SCORE:Pacers 114, Nets 100.

Miles scored a game-high 27 points on 10-of-15 shots. For the first time since Nov. 24, Miles finished with 10 baskets. Unlike that late November win against the Washington Wizards, Miles accomplished this feat while playing 21 minutes off the bench. In a second unit featuring more space and pace, Miles looked more comfortable. He found his rhythm early with a second-quarter dunk. He stopped thinking. He shot the ball if the Nets left him open. If the Nets wised up and threw resistance his way, he read and countered the defense. In other words, Miles just played. ​

"I knew I was going to be able to come out of it," Miles said. "I didn’t know how the game was going to be, but I continued to stay confident.”

Led by Miles' revival, the energized second unit did damage in posting 58 points. Small forward Paul George scored 17 and added a team-high six assists, while Indiana’s starting backcourt of Monta Ellis and George Hill combined for 24 on 9-of-15 shooting. Overall the Pacers flowed through the offense, shooting 50 percent from the floor, their highest field-goal percentage since Jan. 17 (.585). And for a night, George did not see obstacles in figuring out his role, but rather a prosperous spring for the Pacers (26-23).

"If C.J. gets hot like he did in November, I get hot like I was in November, Monta continues to play well, Myles (Turner) steps up and continues to play at a high level like he's doing," said George, who also mentioned the pending returns of injured players Ian Mahinmi and Rodney Stuckey, "this team can be pretty scary."

While George has felt the impact of the shifting identity of the team, expressing his challenge in hedging the line between facilitator and fearless shooter, no one has been more affected by the variant lineups than Miles.

Back when the Pacers wanted to try the spread lineup, Miles was a regular starter. Except the few times when Indiana matched up with big teams, Miles stayed in that starting role until the end of December.

Slowly, however, as the Pacers shifted to playing with more size, Miles moved to the bench. By Jan. 6, he became a permanent fixture with the second unit and, a few games later, sixth man Stuckey was sidelined with a right foot sprain and bone bruise. The injury created a ripple effect in the rotation and Miles found himself playing alongside rookie point guard Joe Young, second-year wing Glenn Robinson III and a more defensive-oriented player in Solomon Hill. The shots have not come easy for Miles. However the offensive limitations of this crew could benefit Miles, at least according to coach Frank Vogel.

"There are less scoring options, so I can make him a focal point of the play calling," Vogel said. "There (are) opportunities to call his number and he was able to get going.”

Recently those opportunities have not been apparent, but on Wednesday, Miles said the way the unit played served as his springboard out of the slump. Through the second quarter, Miles made 6-of-8 shots, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range, and scored 15.

"We got stops and got running and we were able to use that athleticism with Solo playing (power forward), myself and Glenn Robinson (and) that little jitterbug Joe Young out there," Miles said. "It's fun to play that way and it fits us."

"That’s who he is," Vogel said of Miles. "He goes in and out, he slumps at times but he usually comes back around and when he gets going, he’s pretty unstoppable.”

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Beyond Miles, the Pacers looked dominant through the quarter. They exposed the Nets’ defense with blow-bys — Miles, Lavoy Allen and Robinson III all finding no resistance on drives down the lane — as well as jump shots; near the 4-minute mark, George made Thaddeus Young look silly with a crossover before rising from 18 feet and drawing a foul.

Couple this production with Brooklyn’s inefficiency – the team started the quarter 0-for-8 with two turnovers – and by halftime, the Pacers had wrested control with a 62-43 lead.

Miles started the fourth quarter and by that time, the Pacers led by 10 points. However, the bench – which included Young, Robinson, Solomon Hill and the lone big Allen at the five – played more like a long-established unit than a patchwork crew. Early in the quarter, with Hill setting up the play, Miles scored an off-balance layup while getting fouled from Bojan Bogdanovic. Two plays later, Hill dished to Allen for another bucket in the paint, the Pacers pulled back in front by 15 points and remained comfortably ahead for the rest of the game.

"It's indescribable almost because there's no thinking in the game," Miles said about finding his rhythm. "It's just like — you go. It's like clockwork and it's great to be able to have that feel."

Follow IndyStar reporter Candace Buckner on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.

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