Miami Heat rookie Jame Jaquez Jr. quickly talks about if he will be in next month's NBA Slam Dunk Contest. There was a report by Greg Sylvander that Jaquez would be in it, but Jaquez wouldn't give a straight answer to ClutchPoints after practice Tuesday as they prepare for the Oklahoma City Thunder the following day.
“That's something I can neither confirm or deny,” Jaquez said. “So I'll leave it at that.”
Jaquez talking about the win over Houston Monday night
Jaquez would make for an exciting presence at the dunk contest as he has shown in games that he can elevate and dunk the ball in an outlandish fashion. However, his play on the court goes beyond him dunking the ball as Jaquez has had an impressive first-year winning back-to-back Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month awards.
The Heat played well to start their four-game home stand Monday when they beat the Houston Rockets and Jaquez made an impact with 14 points, four rebounds, and four assists. He told ClutchPoints at practice that they execute the game plan “very well.”
“I think I was just able to get to some of my spots. There was a couple of bunnies I could have made, but no matter,” Jaquez said. “We got a lot of great looks on offense, we shade shared the ball really well. I think over 30 assists was a number. We locked up on defense and that was the game plan. So I thought we executed very well.”
After playing the first 35 games of the season primarily on the road, the start of 2024 will be different as their next 12 of 17 games will be at the Kaseya Center. Jaquez said that “it's going to be nice to be at home for a while” and that it is “time to protect home court” which is something they haven't excelled at.
Miami is one of the handful of teams in the NBA to have more wins on the road (11-9) than at home (10-6). However, that could be because of the road-heavy start to the season as said before, but this week's home stand will be a prime opportunity to break some ground.
Jaquez talks about facing fellow rookie in Thunder star Chet Holmgren
The matchup against the Thunder Wednesday will be a juicy one as it will feature arguably two of the three best rookies in the NBA (besides San Antonio Spurs' Victor Wembanyama) in Jaquez and Chet Holmgren. However, Jaquez is not “taking it personal” to prove who the better player is as his sole focus is to win the game.
“I don't think I'm taking it personal, it's gonna be a great battle. I think we're both just trying to win a ballgame,” Jaquez said. “I know there's going to be a narrative, we're both the top rookies in our class. We're just going to try to win a game.
Jaquez does admire the game of Holmgren, who has been averaging 17.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game. The UCLA product compliments the multitude of ways Holmgren can impact the game as the Heat will have to work around him.
“I mean, he's got great size, he can space the floor, he can pass on defense,” Jaquez said to ClutchPoints. He's a great presence so we're gonna have to try to work around that and game plan.”
The Heat are 21-15 on the season which puts them fifth in the Eastern Conference. They will have three more games in the home stand, but their next 12 of 17 will also be inside the Kaseya Center starting Wednesday against Oklahoma City.
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