Utah Jazz guard/forward C.J. Miles has undergone successful surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb, Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor announced today. Following the surgery, which was performed by Dr. Keith Raskins in New York, Miles will be placed in a rigid cast for four weeks. He will then be reevaluated prior to beginning rehabilitation in Salt Lake City.

Miles originally suffered the injury on Monday, October 5 during practice at London’s O2 Arena. Selected by the Jazz in the second round (34th overall) of the 2005 NBA draft, Miles (6-6, 220, Skyline H.S.) has appeared in 192 games (98 starts) with Utah, owning career averages of 5.9 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 15.0 minutes per game. Starting in all 72 games played last season, the Dallas native enjoyed a career year in 2008-09, averaging 9.1 points, 1.5 assists and 2.3 rebounds in 22.5 minutes per game.

San Antonio Spurs forward/center Tim Duncan is getting older and taking care to ensure that his knees stay strong.

Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News reports:

The brace Tim Duncan has been wearing on his left knee throughout the preseason will remain for the entire season.

Duncan scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds in his first preseason action Friday.

“It feels pretty good,” he said. “I’ve gone through four or five braces this summer, trying to find the right one. That’s the one that feels good so far.”

Duncan will turn 35 years old on April 25, which according to the calendar in my head should be during the first round of the NBA playoffs.

The successful San Antonio Spurs have been strong defenders ever since the days of David Robinson playing alongside Tim Duncan, but for years the tradition also continued thanks to the efforts of Bruce Bowen.

Age caught up with the aggressive small forward last season and he quickly fell off the map, eventually being moved to another team, and recently announcing his retirement.

Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News reports:

The transition to a post-Bowen defense began last season, when the eight-time All-Defensive Team selection’s ability to lock down the league’s great scorers began to erode. Bowen slipped out of the starting lineup. His minutes dwindled to fewer than 19 per game, an all-time low for his eight seasons with the Spurs.

Now, Jefferson will be part of a gang approach to defending players such as Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Wade, who is likely to miss today’s game with a strained rib muscle. So will Manu Ginobili, George Hill, Roger Mason Jr. and Keith Bogans.

“Bruce was the best at making those kinds of guys uncomfortable, but those guys you have to guard as a team,” Ginobili said, “so we’re going to have to play better team defense than the last two years.

“We all have to step up defensively.”

The Spurs have a limited window to win another championship in the Duncan era, and they stocked up on weapons this summer and are going for broke this year. On paper, I consider them the second or third best team in the Western conference.