For the first time this season, Miami Heat forward Nikola Jovic opened a game on the bench. But by the end of the contest, Jovic was one of the stars of the night. Just a few days removed from Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra pointing to \u201cenergy and effort\u201d and challenging Jovic to \u201cimpact the win, impact the game, impact the scoreboard,\u201d Jovic was pulled from the Heat\u2019s starting lineup for Sunday\u2019s matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves after starting the first eight games of the season.<\/p>\n
The move to the bench isn\u2019t exactly what Jovic was hoping for, but he still made the most of his opportunity. Not only did Jovic contribute 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 shooting on threes, seven rebounds, one assist and one steal in 23 productive minutes off the Heat\u2019s bench, but he also scored the game-winning points to lift the Jimmy Butler-less Heat to a much-needed 95-94 victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night at Target Center. The Heat (4-5) outscored the Timberwolves by 10 points with Jovic on the court on its way to snapping a three-game skid and improving to 1-2 on its long six-game trip, as Butler (sprained right ankle) missed his first game of the season.<\/p>\n
This is the standard now,\u201d Spoelstra said following Sunday\u2019s win when asked about Jovic\u2019s effort against the Timberwolves. \u201cI don\u2019t want to retreat, I don\u2019t want to have to do things to get something out of players. He was very good tonight from the detail standpoint, the effort standpoint, rebounding, size, defending multiple efforts.\u201d The highlight of the night also belonged to Jovic, who completed a game-winning three-point play in the final seconds. After Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels made a putback layup to put the Heat in a two-point hole with nine seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Spoelstra called timeout and drew up a play.<\/p>\n
The play worked to perfection, as inbounder Duncan Robinson found Jovic streaking into space off a back screen set by Terry Rozier. Jovic caught the inbounds pass and made the layup while being fouled by Nickeil Alexander-Walker to tie the score with 7.8 seconds remaining, celebrating the basket by flexing before picking himself up off the court. Jovic then made the free throw to complete the game-deciding three-point play, giving the Heat a one-point lead that would hold. \u201cSpo had a great play,\u201d Jovic said, as the Heat continues its trip on Tuesday against the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network \u2014 Sun) in its first group-play game of the NBA\u2019s second-annual in-season tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me I might have a chance and if I get it, I have to take it. Duncan told me he was going to pass it and Tyler [Herro] told me to shoot it. So yeah, I kind of went off a back screen, I was open and made it.\u201d Jovic, 21, makes his role in that crucial sequence sound simple. But what definitely wasn\u2019t easy on Sunday was accepting the fact that he would play as a reserve for the first time this season. \u201cIt was hard,\u201d Jovic admitted. \u201cI guess Spo just wanted to change the lineup and stuff. He told me to stay ready and I stayed ready. They told me to just be me and that\u2019s what I did. I got in the game, I did what I do in transition, help on defense, rebound and that\u2019s it. It worked out this game.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Jovic\u2019s game-winning play stands out, Spoelstra was impressed by his overall effort Sunday. So impressed that he left Jovic on the court for the entire 12-minute fourth quarter against the Timberwolves after not playing any fourth-quarter minutes in two of the previous three games. Jovic recorded seven points, four rebounds and one assist in Sunday\u2019s fourth quarter. \u201cI\u2019m just looking at the efforts, I\u2019m looking at the process,\u201d Spoelstra said when discussing Jovic\u2019s performance. \u201cThen that generates the karma of the game. Now the ball finds him and he makes some really important plays. It wasn\u2019t only that play at the end. They were doing such a great job of denying Terry and Tyler, we didn\u2019t have any other triggers. We rebounded and Niko brought the ball up the court, he got a lob to Bam [Adebayo] and the next time down he ends up finishing a tough layup against [Rudy] Gobert. \u201cBut it\u2019s the karma of the game. You do the right things throughout the course of it, you hope the basketball gods are watching.\u201d Prior to Sunday\u2019s contest, Jovic averaged 7.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game while shooting 43.4 percent from the field and 9 of 28 (32.1 percent) from three-point range while starting the first eight games of the season. Opponents outscored the Heat by 7.9 points per 100 possessions with Jovic on the court during that stretch. Jovic knows more than that is needed moving forward and he delivered in Minneapolis. \u201cSpo was on me,\u201d Jovic said. \u201cAs the youngest guy, I have to be the guy who brings the intensity. I just had to show them that I can do it and that I can help this team win. You got to stay locked into the whole season.\u201d Jovic\u2019s Heat teammates were thrilled for him after Sunday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really proud of this guy right here to my left,\u201d Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. said while standing next to Jovic in the visiting locker room at Target Center. \u201cI just kept telling him, \u2018Man, don\u2019t focus on anything else but just get a rebound, get a rebound, get a rebound.\u2019 That\u2019s what he did tonight. Obviously, the big finish at the end. But he works so hard, man. I\u2019m just really happy for him to have this moment.\u201d Adebayo added: \u201cI\u2019m proud of Niko. It\u2019s been an up-and-down couple of games for him. So just happy to see him finally flourish and get that moment.\u201d Jovic, who is in his third NBA season after being drafted by the Heat out of Serbia with the 27th overall pick in 2022, has already been through a lot since entering the NBA. Jovic spent most of his rookie season in 2022-23 sidelined by a back injury and began his second season in 2023-24 out of the Heat\u2019s rotation.<\/p>\n
But after logging more minutes in the G League than in the NBA through the first few months of his second season, Jovic closed last season as the Heat\u2019s starting power forward. Jovic continued to play as a starter to begin his third season before moving to a reserve role for Sunday\u2019s game. Will Jovic continue to play off the Heat\u2019s bench or will he return to the starting lineup in the coming days? \u201cWe\u2019re day-to-day and I guess that\u2019s the best place to live right now,\u201d Spoelstra said when asked about the Heat\u2019s ever-changing rotation. On Sunday, Spoelstra was encouraged by Jovic\u2019s response to the challenge issued to him by the Heat\u2019s coaching staff. \u201cThose are all good things,\u201d Spoelstra said. \u201cI love to see players develop some grit from an NBA season. Now he has the other thing, can you deal with some success? It\u2019s only one game, so that\u2019s his next challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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