Miami Heat youngster Nikola Jovic was far from happy in the team’s loss to the Detroit Pistons on Saturday. He played over 10 minutes and ended up with as many balls (five) as he did points, rebounds and assists combined. It was his first appearance after dropping out of the penalty area in the first leg.
After Jovic’s sub, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra admitted the 22-year-old needs to “put in some work,” but he also didn’t sound overly concerned about the forward. He said the former first-round pick will “get there.”
“Look, he’s got to get in a better rhythm,” Spoelstra said. “He needs to put in some work, but he’ll be just fine.”
“He’s getting there. He’s getting in a better rhythm.”
Maybe if Jovic did a little better on Saturday, the Heat would still be competing on a long winning streak. They lost by just three, and the defeat marked the end of their six-game winning streak that spanned much of the second half of this month.
Jovic has started a handful of games for the Heat recently — 38 in 2023-24 and 57 in total during his tenure — but he has primarily operated off the bench this season. Of the 15 games he has played in, he has come off the bench in all but one of them.
On a Heat team full of players who have performed above expectations thus far, Jovic has underperformed. He is converting a career-low 40.0% of his shots from the field, and the last time he scored in double figures in points was back on November 8th against the Portland Trail Blazers. Additionally, going into the 2025-26 campaign, he is turning the ball over at a career high 2.0 times per game.
But Jovic will have a chance to redeem himself in the next game on the Heat’s schedule, assuming he gets some minutes. Miami is set to host the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday and hopefully he can be a positive contributor to the Heat’s win in that game.