C.J. Miles Helping Pacers Fans Forget Lance Stephenson

C.J. Miles has been helping Indiana Pacers fans forget about Lance Stephenson with his stellar play of late.

The Indiana Pacers signed C.J. Miles this past offseason to bring in a scoring punch off of the bench, but the broken leg that Paul George suffered forced him into the starting lineup immediately. Miles has since moved back to the bench and has taken off.

At the beginning of the season, there were quite a few fans and analysts that thought that Miles would end up being a bust. All of us that thought that have been proven wrong now that he has his shooting touch back, and he is one of the most consistent players on the floor every night now.

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Miles is averaging 11.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, and  1.4 assists per game with the Pacers, and has taken that even higher recently. During the month of December alone, he averaged 14.9 points, while shooting 37.0 percent from behind the three-point arc. Indiana has desperately needed another scorer to step up, and they seem to have found their guy.

At 27 years of age, Miles is in the prime of his career and will spend the majority of it with the Pacers. He signed a four-year deal with Indiana this past offseason, and Larry Bird appears to have found a perfect rotation guy. Having him come off the bench next season with George back on the court is going to be a huge upgrade over what the Pacers have had over the past couple of season.

Lance Stephenson left the Pacers in free agency this past offseason, and there were rumors recently about the Pacers trying to get him back via a trade with the Charlotte Hornets. Miles’ play of late has completely put those rumors to rest, and fans are beginning to forget about the headaches that Stephenson made them have while with the Pacers.

All of that being said, the Pacers have been impressed with his play and are hoping that he can keep it up moving forward. They are now 12-21 on the season, and have everyone back healthy outside of backup center Ian Mahinmi and of course Paul George.

If the Pacers are going to get into the playoffs, they are going to need Miles to continue scoring the way that he has. He has the green light to take any shot that he wants, and he has been doing a much better job of picking and choosing which shots he should take. Miles appears to be taking on a leadership role offensively, and he is doing so at just the right time.