Around the NBA: Miles has big night against Atlanta

C.J. Miles was mired in a season-long shooting slump this year with the Raptors before he was traded in February, even though he was showing signs of snapping out of it.

The difficulties with his shot have not followed him to Memphis, though.

Miles made eight three-pointers coming off the bench in a loss to Atlanta on Wednesday as part of a 33-point outburst.

The eight threes were the second-most made in a game by a Memphis player, and the 33 points were the second most by a Grizzlies non-starter in a game. A difficult stretch: Coaches and players tend to downplay hard stretches of the regular-season schedule because things even out over the course of 82 games.

But no one would blame the Brooklyn Nets for looking ahead and slapping their heads in frustration at what’s coming. Locked in a battle with Detroit for sixth in the East and only two games out of eighth, the Nets

are at Utah, the Los Angeles Clippers, Sacramento, Los Angeles Lakers, Portland and Philadelphia before they get home to play Boston, Milwaukee and Toronto. That’s a true grind and may cost them playoff seeding. Feast or famine: What’s that old saying about the NBA being a make-or-miss league? No one’s proving that these days better than the Detroit Pistons.

For about a month-long stretch, the Pistons had one of the most proficient offences in the league and it allowed them to climb into sixth place in the East. In their last two games — losses at Brooklyn and Miami — the Pistons played one half where they scored 34 points and one where they managed to score only 25.

Information from other publications, wire services and websites was used in the compilation of this report.