Subscribe
Follow Us
MIAMI – Looking at the Miami Heat's win over the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night, 114-104, one of the main highlights was the re-emergence of young star Nikola Jovic. While the center of the attention for the Heat has been trade rumors, the team would get their fourth straight win, helped by Jovic's performance coming off the bench, which garnered the response of Jimmy Butler and Erik Spoelstra.
Heat's Jimmy Butler says he is a “big fan” of Nikola Jovic
Jovic would score 14 points on four of five shooting from the field, two of two from deep, to go along with four rebounds and a +25 on the floor. It was his first appearance in the rotation since N0v. 23 against the Dallas Mavericks, as Butler said to ClutchPoints after the game that he is a “huge fan” of Jovic.
“My man played like a starting four out there, that's what I like to see!” Butler said. “I'm a huge fan of Niko [Jovic]. I think everybody in the world knows it, everybody in Serbia knows it. I'm just happy for him. I want him to continue to play confidently. You know, he does everything well out there on the floor when he is locked in. I think he's back to being that. So I want my boy to keep shining and keep doing what he's doing.”
It has been an interesting season for the young star in Jovic as he began the season in the starting lineup but would be relegated to the bench.
Heat's Erik Spoelstra says Nikola Jovic brought an “important spark”
He would have some solid games for the Heat off the bench but would fall out of the rotation, which Spoelstra told ClutchPoints that “it's not easy,” and Jovic gave the team a “really important spark” Friday night.
“He gave us a really important spark,” Spoelstra said. “And look, it's not easy, necessarily being, you know, a young guy, and you're in a rotation, and you're out of the rotation, and you know, it's a lesson you don't necessarily understand or want to hear at this point. You have to win each day, and if you're not playing, how do you win the day? Like, at least you have a staff that's looking and valuing pre-practice, film sessions, practice, shootarounds, walk-throughs, you know. And that's how you can earn trust.”
“But then you also stay ready so that when you get your opportunity, that you can make the most of it, and then you can impact winning,” Spoelstra continued. “Our depth is important. Different guys have been able to step in and impact basically the entire roster, and that's important. You know, if you can get a team that's connected, that's bought into just contributing, you know, to helping a team win, then you have something, you know, that's still early in the season, but we've seen indications that guys our depth can contribute. And he stayed with it, I was happy to see that.”
It remains to be seen if Spoelstra will continue to play Jovic at a consistent level as the Heat are 13-10, which puts them fifth in the Eastern Conference, as their next game is next Monday against the Detroit Pistons.
