C.J. Miles working through calf strain, doubtful for Wednesday

C.J. Miles has had a strange start to his career with the Pacers.

He sat out some of training camp with a left calf strain, but he insisted it was nothing serious. Missing some practice time – but no games – was the strategy aiming to let it heal and prevent it from recurring during the season.

David West, C.J. Miles, and C.J. Watson in the injury corner. (Not pictured: George Hill and Paul George.)

Well, after missing four games because of migraine symptoms, he returned Friday against Denver but exited after just four minutes (and two points) with a sore right calf. He then was sidelined for Saturday’s 99-90 win in Chicago, and is doubtful for the Pacers’ game Wednesday against the Charlotte Hornets.

“Just working through it,” Miles said Tuesday after participating in much of practice, but not the entirety. “Working through everything going on, but I’m doing good.

“Right now it’s pretty shaky for tomorrow but I’m not far away. A couple days. I’ve been doing good, been doing a lot of treatment.”

The migraine “symptoms” seemed a bit odd. I’ve had a few migraines and they last for one day. With some people, however, including Miles, the migraine caused other issues — body issues he understandably didn’t want to expand upon.

“I got a little sick,” he said. “My body kind of fell apart on me, just put it like that. But I had some other things and then I got some medicine and [now] it’s just my calf.”

Now in his 10th NBA season, he’s dealt with plenty of calf injuries. He says they are actually a usual occurrence for him each season. And through the years, he understands the injury much more and how to get back on the court.

“I know the drill,” he told me during camp. “I know that it usually fades away.”

Miles said this one is not as bad as the strain he had in his left calf strain during camp.

“I guess it was just being off for a few days and then jumping into the game,” he added. “I kind of just strained it, but it’s nothing serious.”

While on the court, Miles has struggled getting the ball to go through the hoop. He’s 16-65 (24.6 percent) from the field, and just 5-of-30 from beyond the arc. He’s eager to finally be back on the floor and knocking down shots, the reason he was signed by the Pacers over the summer.

Solo’s New Nickname

Despite missing five of the last six games, Miles was back to his usually bubbly self on Tuesday. As he leaned against the doors in the practice floor at Bankers Life Fieldhouse that lead into the employee weight room, both Paul George and Solomon Hill poked their head in the window and made faces as Miles spoke with the media. Miles caught Hill in the act.

Then, he advised us that Solo’s new nickname is Sabretooth, after the comic character. He said they didn’t want to call him Wolverine so it’s Sabretooth, a mutant who possesses superhuman abilities.

Aaaaaand everyone forgot what CJ was saying…… pic.twitter.com/m97E3KKIoB

— Michael Grady (@Grady) November 18, 2014

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