It’s no shock to the system to see Mike Miller flying toward the basket. What makes the head start spinning is watching him actually put the ball in the bucket instead of trying at all costs to give up the rock to somebody else.
In his first start in more than three months on Tuesday, Miller shot the ball a season-high 12 times, finishing with 15 points, his third-highest scoring night of the year.
Miller has tried hard all season to demur offensively despite shooting 56 percent from the field, but with the Wizards (14-30) increasingly at their wits’ end, he no longer can afford to pass up shots in favor of simple ball movement.
“I’m trying to change things up a little bit, trying to have another ball handler on the floor to try and take some pressure off Randy [Foye],” said Wizards head coach Flip Saunders, who inserted Miller into his starting lineup against the Lakers after using him as the sixth man in the previous four games.
Miller has also had to shake off rust. His initial return from a seven-week layoff with a calf injury lasted just a game and a half before he suffered a setback that was due in part to being overused.
He’s also prone to mistakes that are the product of his desperate intention to get his teammates going instead of himself.
“He jumped up in the air a few times,” said Saunders, who has been frustrated with the Wizards’ indecisive tendencies when penetrating into the lane. “But at the end of the second half he started driving more with the idea of scoring rather than just being a passer.”
Miller came to Washington — via last June’s predraft swap with Minnesota — determined to be a facilitator for a team that already had stars. Whether he’s ready to admit it or not, none of that matters anymore.
“It’s based on the way the game is going,” said Miller prior to the Lakers game. “Our ball movement has been real stagnant the last couple of games, and I’ve been trying to get it popping. Believe me, I’d like to shoot more. But sometimes it’s not your job.”
