MIAMI – While the Miami Heat's new and improved offense was on display once again in the 136-131 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night, the standout of the night was the performance of Nikola Jovic. As Heat captain Bam Adebayo continues to be out with a toe injury, Jovic stepped up to the plate in leading the team under the up-tempo offense, but it wasn't always easy for the 22-year-old.

J0vic would score 29 points and made 10 shots from the field, both career-highs, to go along with nine rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and a block. He was making total use of the free-flowing offense that Miami prides itself on this season, but Jovic admitted after the win that in the past two weeks, he “felt like everything I did was wrong.”

“I thought it was gonna be a lot easier, I would have lied if I said the last two weeks were easy, because I felt like everything I did was wrong, and I was not helping this team at all,” Jovic said. “I want to thank coaches and everybody from the team, who have been kind of keep supporting me and let me know that I'm important for the team. But my head just wasn't there. I didn't know how to help the team.”

“But you can see the way it makes everybody look better, not just me, but everybody else too,” Jovic continued. “It's an easy way to play basketball, and I think it suits us really good, because we don't have the guy who needs the ball a lot, who needs a really high usage, and that's what helps us. So I feel like we just play for each other, and I feel like that's the right way to play this sport.”

Heat's Nikola Jovic on what led to a career night 

Miami Heat forward Nikola Jovic (5) gets fouled by Portland Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara (33) in the first quarter at Kaseya Center.
Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

Coming off the Heat's big win over the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday, the team completes the back-to-back with their second straight win and fourth straight victory at home, as they're currently undefeated inside the Kaseya Center. Helped by Miami's new offense and Jovic's determination getting downhill, playing freely, and stuffing the statsheet, he would further admit that mentally and physically, he “felt bad” originally.

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However, the offense came to him on Saturday night, explaining to ClutchPoints that he wasn't “relying on just myself” in the lead up to his career night, one where he brought a ton of positional versatility.

“I think not relying on just myself and kind of letting the flow of the game help me get my rhythm, and because the way we play,” Jovic said. “It should be that way. You know, I should be getting ball on random possessions, ran cuts, you know, getting some easy points, so that's what I did, my team has got me going, and it's as simple as that.”

Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke about Jovic's “assertiveness” against Portland, saying that his “will” was felt throughout the contest.

“I liked his energy, I liked his intent,” Spoelstra said. “He was assertive, aggressive on both sides of the court. You know, you can choose to float or you can choose to insert your will on a game. And it's not about like, how many points you score. It's about imposing your will on a game, and you felt his will on the game…I just like the assertiveness tonight.”

At any rate, Jovic and Miami look to build on this performance, as the team looks for three straight and five consecutive wins at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday.