Latest news with #NikolaJovic
Miami Herald
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Heat's Nikola Jovic enters important, but uncertain offseason: ‘I'll control what I can control'
It has been quite the year for Miami Heat forward Nikola Jovic. It began last postseason when Jovic made the first playoff start of his NBA career and continued last offseason when Jovic won a bronze medal in his Olympic debut as a member of the Serbian national team. That brought Jovic to his third NBA season, which he began in a starting role that he eventually lost before thriving as a reserve to average career highs in points (10.7 per game), assists (2.8) and minutes (25.1) this past season. 'Man, his last 14 months have been really important,' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said when asked about Jovic's development. 'Even going back to last year's playoff series. Having that experience, a summer of work and then all of this. He started out as a starter and then being out of the rotation, having to fight for it again and all the little things, and then earning back basically a sixth or seventh man role and thriving in that role before he got hurt. He has made significant progress.' Jovic, who turns 22 on June 9, now wants to use this offseason to make even more progress. 'I think I can improve in a lot of things,' Jovic said when asked on exit interview day what he wants to work on this offseason. 'I think I improved since I first came here. But just in every part, I think consistency is one thing that I really struggled with even this year. So first being consistent, knowing what I have to do on the floor every night. After that, I feel like I can do a lot of things on the floor. 'I never thought I was a player who always knew just to do one thing. I think I'm going to work on a lot of things. I'm just going to work on my game. I think that's what it's all about because I don't know what the future is going to bring me, what situation I'm going to be in, what coach is going to want me to do. So yeah, just work on whatever they need me to work on and work on everything that I think I need to work on.' Jovic, who was taken by the Heat with the 27th overall pick in the first round of the 2022 Draft, flashed his upside after moving to a bench role this past season. He logged double-digit minutes in 31 straight regular-season games, averaging 12 points, four rebounds and 3.6 assists per game while shooting 45.3% from the field and 37.8% on threes during that two-month span. But an injury put an end to that impressive string of games, as Jovic broke his right hand on Feb. 23 and missed the final 27 games of the regular season. He returned to take part in the Heat's short-lived playoff run that ended in the first round for the second straight season. 'I think since the new year and before my injury, I felt like I was pretty consistent and I kind of found my role coming off the bench and doing something,' Jovic said. 'Then the injury kind of put me back down. That's part of being consistent, the little injuries that I have to avoid somehow. But I felt pretty confident, I felt like I could bring a lot of stuff from the bench during that stretch.' Jovic now enters an important offseason after a foot injury slowed him last offseason and the Heat's deep run to the NBA Finals in 2023 shortened his first NBA offseason. Jovic hopes to stay healthy and on the court this offseason before joining the Serbian national team in late July to prepare for EuroBasket 2025, which begins on Aug. 27. 'The last two summers, I really didn't have time to work on anything,' Jovic admitted. 'This summer I feel like I hope I stay healthy and everything goes good until the training camp for the national team, which is probably at the end of July. So I have a solid three months to work on something. What that something will be, I don't know yet. I still have to connect with the coaches and think about it a little bit. But I feel like this might be the first summer that I actually have some time to improve my game.' While the hand injury put a pause to the momentum Jovic created this season, he still flashed growth with his improved outside shooting and his ability to play as a connector on offense at 6-foot-10. But Jovic's combination of skill and upside makes him one of the few developmental prospects on the roster who can help facilitate a potential Heat trade this offseason. Or will the Heat make a long-term commitment and sign Jovic to an extension this offseason? Jovic is due $4.4 million next season in the fourth and final year of his rookie contract before becoming eligible to be a restricted free agent during the 2026 offseason. He becomes eligible for an extension on July 1. 'I've been here from the jump,' Jovic said when asked how much he wants to remain with the Heat. 'If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be in the situation that I'm in right now. They helped me not just become a better basketball player, but a better person too. 'I feel like this is my second home. This is where I kind of grew from a boy to a man. Of course, I would love to say. But things change. Everything can change. If I learned one thing this year, this is more than just basketball. It's a business, too. So I'll control what I can control and be better this summer.'
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Miami Heat Season-in-Review Profile: Nikola Jovic
With the Miami Heat's turbulent 2024-25 campaign having officially come to a close, it's time to look back and see which players met, surpassed or fell short of their respective expectations entering this season. Nikola Jovic, one of Miami's more recent hidden draft gems, has shown consistent signs of improvement through his first three years in South Florida. The 21-year-old Serbian forward was selected by the Heat with the 27th overall pick back in 2022. Since then, he's worked his way up from the bottom of the depth chart to a key spot in the team's rotation. Miami Heat forward Nikola Jovic© Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Jovic took another major step forward in the 2024-25 campaign, averaging career highs in points (10.7), assists (2.8) and steals (0.8) per game, as well as in overall field goal percentage (45.6%). Advertisement However, at least one major concern around Jovic remains as pertinent as ever: durability. The Serbian wing appeared in just 46 games this season, the same exact tally of appearances he recorded one year earlier. The reasons for Jovic's absences varied from game to game, but the concerns around his availability (or lack thereof) remained a constant throughout the 2024-25 campaign. In the playoffs, Jovic provided a surprising bright spot in an otherwise demoralizing first round series between the Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers. He scored a game-high 24 points in Miami's 55-point loss to Cleveland in game four, with the Cavs completing the sweep and ending the former squad's season. Pending any major offseason shakeups, Jovic looks to be a part of Miami's young core for the foreseeable future. If he is to reach his full potential, however, the up-and-coming forward will need to find a way to consistently stay on the court going forward. Related: Heat Suffer Worst Playoff Loss in Franchise History to Cavaliers Without Darius Garland
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Cleveland by 39 at halftime in Miami: The 3rd-biggest lead after 2 quarters in NBA playoff history
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) fouls Miami Heat forward Nikola Jovic (5) during the first half in Game 4 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series, Monday, April 28, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rhona Wise) MIAMI (AP) — Cleveland took a 39-point halftime lead over Miami on Monday night in Game 4 of the teams' Eastern Conference first-round series, the third-largest lead after two quarters in NBA playoff history. The score at the break: Cavs 72, Heat 33. Advertisement Cleveland already owned the record for halftime lead — a 41-point edge at Boston, 72-31, on May 19, 2017. The Cavs threatened to break that; they led by as many as 45 points in the second quarter on Monday. Detroit led Washington by 40 — 76-36 — for the second most-lopsided halftime lead in NBA playoff history, doing so on April 26, 1987. De'Andre Hunter had 18 points at the break for Cleveland, which led 43-17 after one quarter. The Cavs had 33 points on 3-pointers in the first half; the Heat had 33 points from everywhere in the first half. ___ AP NBA:
Miami Herald
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Jovic returns from injury, takes blame for Heat's Game 2 loss: ‘I really did cost us the game'
After the Miami Heat held practice Tuesday in Cleveland, forward Nikola Jovic admitted he didn't expect to play much in Game 2 of the Heat's first-round playoff series. 'Even if I come in, I don't think it will be a long time that I'll stay in the game,' said Jovic, who had yet to play any meaningful minutes since breaking his right hand in late February. Well, it turns out the Heat relied on Jovic to play the entire fourth quarter of Wednesday's 121-112 Game 2 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena. It marked his first real playing time in two months. Jovic, 21, finished the defeat with 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field, 1-of-8 shooting on threes and 2-of-2 shooting from the foul line, eight rebounds, two assists and two turnovers in 25 minutes off the Heat's bench while wearing black tape around his right hand. Jovic recorded four points, five rebounds and one assist while playing the entire fourth quarter, helping spark a Heat rally that cut a 13-point deficit at the start of the final period to just a two-point deficit multiple times in the final minutes. But the Eastern Conference's top-seeded Cavaliers eventually took control to hold on for the win and take a 2-0 lead over the East's eighth-seeded Heat in the best-of-7 series. 'Niko gave us a real good boost,' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. 'Offensively, we just look different when he's on the floor. He creates some stress with his skill and I'm pleased that he was able to play those 25 minutes. It's a credit to him putting in all that time conditioning the last month or so.' Even Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson noticed the impact Jovic made in Wednesday's fourth quarter, pointing out the two offensive rebounds and three defensive rebounds that the 6-foot-10 Jovic grabbed in the final period. 'Jovic gave them a huge boost,' Atkinson said, with the playoff series now moving to Miami for Games 3 (Saturday at 1 p.m. at Kaseya Center) and 4 (Monday with time TBD). 'He's big, he gave them another big wing. He came in rebounding and making plays.' But Jovic was hard on himself after Game 2, blaming himself for the loss because of mistakes he made down the stretch. He missed all four of his three-point attempts in the fourth quarter, including two airballs, and committed two costly turnovers in the final 2:43 of the game. 'I got what I wanted and that's to close the game in the playoffs,' said Jovic, who averaged career highs in points (10.7 per game), assists (2.8) and minutes (25.1) this regular season in his third NBA season. 'The stuff that I did at the end is really unacceptable. I really did cost us the game and I just got to be better. This is my third year. I'm not a rookie anymore. I've seen what's the deal and how to get to the playoffs, and the stuff that I did today was just not good. 'I'm really grateful that coach gave me the opportunity. I'm not worried about my shot. I know if I have those shots again, I will shoot them every time because I know I'm open and I know I can make them. They just didn't go in and I got to be better.' The rust was understandable, as Wednesday represented Jovic's first meaningful and extended playing time since he fractured his right hand on Feb. 23. He returned to game action for the first time since the injury when he played the final 1:23 of Sunday's Game 1 loss in Cleveland, but that came at the end of a lopsided defeat. 'No, I just think I wasn't smart enough,' Jovic said when asked whether fatigue was a factor for him late in Wednesday's contest. 'I got to be better. It's not the regular season. If we took this one, it's 1-1, we are headed back home and we're feeling great.' Despite some shaky moments from Jovic in Game 2, Jovic's Heat teammates already see how he can help them in this playoff series with his combination of size, playmaking and three-point shooting. 'It's just a different threat, different look,' Heat guard Davion Mitchell said of what Jovic adds. 'A taller guy who can put the ball on the ground, who can make really good decisions, who can shoot the ball. He can do everything for us. He's going to be a key part to this series. They got to guard him, you know what I'm saying. And they got to put a good defender on him. He just makes the right play every time, he puts people in rotations and he's going to be good for us during the series.' Heat center Bam Adebayo said of Jovic: 'He just adds that dynamic as a big, being that he can also space the floor but also run the point, get guys into triggers. And, obviously, he can knock down a couple shots.' With the Heat using Jovic to close Wednesday's game, starter Andrew Wiggins did not play in the fourth quarter. Instead, the Heat went with a lineup of Mitchell, Tyler Herro, Haywood Highsmith, Jovic and Adebayo to finish Game 2. 'We had taken it all the way to [a two-point deficit], I thought about it,' Spoelstra said when asked why he didn't play Wiggins in the fourth quarter on Wednesday. 'I actually put him at the scorer's table at six minutes to go and the group wanted to keep on pushing through. We stayed with it. But, obviously, he'll be very important for the rest of the series.' It seems like Jovic could also be important for the rest of the series, too, however long it goes. Jovic was far from perfect on Wednesday, but he did enough in the fourth quarter of Game 2 to show how his skill set can help the Heat against the Cavaliers. 'He's been just a big-time boost for us off the bench all year long and he's a dynamic player,' Spoelstra said of Jovic. 'So we just look different when he's on the court. He makes quick decisions, he's got great skill level, he's got size. I'm just pleased that he was able to play these 25 minutes in a playoff setting, which is probably like 45 minutes in the regular season. He's been grinding the conditioning to prepare for this.'
Miami Herald
12-04-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Takeaways: Heat sets franchise record in rout of Pelicans, but still locked into 10th place in East
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat's 153-104 the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night at Smoothie King Center to close its final trip of the regular season — a two-game stretch away from home — at 1-1. The Heat now returns to Miami to close the regular season on Sunday against the Washington Wizards: In the end, Friday's Heat blowout win in New Orleans didn't matter. It's set: The Heat will face the Chicago Bulls at United Center on Wednesday in an elimination play-in tournament game. With the Atlanta Hawks defeating the 76ers and the Bulls beating the Washington Wizards on Friday, the Eastern Conference's play-in seeding is locked at No. 7 Orlando Magic, No. 8 Hawks, No. 9 Bulls and No. 10 Heat. As the East's 10th-place team, the Heat will need to win two consecutive road play-in games to qualify for the playoffs as the conference's No. 8 seed and clinch a first-round matchup against the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers. Here's how it will work ... The East's play-in game between the No. 7 Magic and No. 8 Hawks will be played on Tuesday in Orlando at a time still to be determined and aired on TNT. The winner of this matchup earns the conference's seventh playoff seed and will face the second-seeded Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. The East's play-in game between the No. 9 Bulls and No. 10 Heat will be played on Wednesday in Chicago at a time still to be determined and aired on ESPN. The loser of this matchup is eliminated from playoff contention. Then the East's play-in game between the loser of the Magic-Hawks matchup and the winner of the Bulls-Heat game will be played on Friday in either Orlando or Atlanta and aired on TNT. The winner of this matchup earns the conference's eighth playoff seed and will take on the top-seeded Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs. The Heat will try to make play-in history, as no 10th-place team in either conference has ever advanced past the play-in tournament since this current format was first instituted for the 2020-21 season. The Heat escaped each of its first two trips to the NBA's play-in tournament with the East's No. 8 playoff seed, making an improbable run that ended with a loss to the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Finals in 2023 and then being eliminated by the top-seeded Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs last season. But the Heat entered the 2023 play-in tournament as the East's seventh-place team and the 2024 play-in tournament as the East's eighth-place team. While the Heat was essentially locked into 10th place in the East entering Friday's game, the Heat still played its regulars since it began the night with a slim chance to move up the standings ... and put together a historic performance. The only Heat players unavailable on Friday were Nikola Jovic (broken right hand), Pelle Larsson (sprained right ankle), Kevin Love (personal reasons), Isaiah Stevens (right foot discomfort) and Dru Smith (left Achilles surgery). Meanwhile, the depleted Pelicans were missing most of their roster. New Orleans, which has been among the NBA's worst teams this season and has long been eliminated from playoff contention, was without 11 players on Friday (Brandon Boston, Bruce Brown, Jordan Hawkins, Herbert Jones, Karlo Matkovic, CJ McCollum, Yves Missi, Trey Murphy, Dejounte Murray, Kelly Olynyk and Zion Williamson). With the Heat still playing its best players and the Pelicans missing their best players, the game reflected that. The Heat never trailed Friday, pulling ahead by as many as 52 points on its way to the 49-point victory. It's the second-most lopsided victory in Heat history behind only last season's 60-point win over the Portland Trail Blazers last season. In addition, the Heat's 153 points set a new franchise record for the most points scored in a single game. As usual, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro led the way for the Heat. The duo combined for 45 points while sitting out the entire fourth quarter of the lopsided victory. Adebayo finished with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, 4-of-6 shooting on threes and 3-of-4 shooting from the foul line, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals in 22 minutes. Herro closed with 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, 2-of-3 shooting on threes and 6-of-6 shooting from the foul line, four rebounds, four assists and one steal in 21 minutes. Duncan Robinson added 21 points on 6-of-12 shooting from behind the arc in 19 minutes off the Heat's bench. By the end of the rout, the Heat emptied its bench and ended up playing each of its 13 available players Friday. Even seldom-used Heat players like Josh Christopher and Keshad Johnson played late in the contest. There was one concerning Heat thing in Friday's blowout win: Andrew Wiggins struggled. In his second game back from a right hamstring injury, Wiggins closed the Heat's victory over the Pelicans with just 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting from the field and 0-of-4 shooting on threes to go with five rebounds and three assists in 24 minutes. Wiggins totaled just four points on 1-of-8 shooting from the field and 0-of-3 shooting on threes in Friday's first half. Wiggins missed six straight games because of right hamstring tendinopathy before returning to play in the Heat's last two games. He has totaled 24 points on 9-of-23 (39.1 percent) shooting from the field 3-of-10 (30 percent) shooting on threes in his first two games back from the injury. When asked how he was feeling physically after his return on Wednesday, Wiggins downplayed his hamstring issue: 'I felt solid. If you're out there on the court, then no complaints. You got to be 100 percent, so I felt good.' Wiggins has dealt with a few injuries since he was traded to the Heat on Feb. 6 as part of the Jimmy Butler deal. Wiggins has missed 14 games because of injury or illness since being traded to the Heat on Feb. 6 as part of the Jimmy Butler trade. Wiggins missed one game due to a stomach illness, five games due to a sprained right ankle, two games due to a left lower leg contusion and six straight games due to a hamstring issue. The Heat needs a healthy and more effective version of Wiggins in next week's play-in tournament, as it faces the uphill battle of needing to win two consecutive road games to make the playoffs. Adebayo continues to take and make threes at an eye-opening rate. With Adebayo shooting 4 of 6 from deep in Friday's victory over the Pelicans, he's now shooting an ultra-efficient 50 of 115 (43.5 percent) from behind the arc in his last 34 games. He has also made at least one three-pointer in a career-best 12 straight games. This is an encouraging trend, considering Adebayo shot just 29 of 106 (27.4 percent) on threes in his first 44 appearances of the season prior to this hot stretch. Adebayo has already set new career highs in three-point makes (79) and three-point attempts (221) this season. He has shattered his previous career-high marks of 15 three-point makes and 42 three-point attempts, which were both set last season. Adebayo has shot 79 of 221 (35.7 percent) from three-point range this season. Up next for the Heat — a relatively meaningless regular-season finale. With the Heat already locked into 10th place in the East and the Wizards already clinching one of the worst three records in the NBA for the best chance at the top pick in this year's draft, there's little to be gained for either team on Sunday. The expectation is the Heat will likely sit some of its regulars and use the final game of the regular season to give developmental players like Christopher, Johnson and Stevens (if healthy) an opportunity to play extended minutes. But there is one thing to monitor Sunday, as the Heat's draft position could be affected by the result of the regular-season finale. The Heat, which only keeps its first round pick if it misses the playoffs, entered Friday's game with the NBA's 11th-worst record, which would give Miami a 2 percent chance of landing the top pick and a 9.4 percent chance of snagging a top-four pick during next month's NBA Draft Lottery.
