Mateo’s Hoop Diary: The Heat offense runs smoothly with Jović as the triggerman

Coach Erik Spoelstra is teasing the transition-starved fan base by using Nikola Jović as the playmaker during Jimmy Butler (toe injury) and Caleb Martin’s (ankle sprain) absence. The Serbian kid, who didn’t even have his high school diploma on draft night, is the best on the team at running the break and his tools create devastation on defense.

Early, Jović shot poorly, registering only one layup in the open court with three misses at close range and behind the arc. But he recovered seven rebounds, three of which were offensive, and set up Jaime Jaquez Jr. under the basket in transition, tipped a loose ball to Herro on the left side plus, used the dribble handoff at the top to create space for Herro and Duncan Robinson’s trifectas.

Vintage Kevin Love backed down Jae’Sean Tate, canned a 3-pointer behind a pindown and made two free throws, piling on to the Heat’s blazing first frame.

On the other side, the defense wasn’t as strong. Houston’s Fred VanVleet nailed a 25-footer with Jović, who is 11 inches taller, all over him, another at the left wing when Josh Richardson doubled to Alperen Şengün in the post and one at the elbow as Bam Adebayo dropped. Additionally, the club inflicted four of nine triples to start.

In the second quarter, the hosts could barely convert from deep but managed 12 free throw attempts and logged 67% of its two-pointers. In this period, the defense slipped, allowing six of 11 triples to fall.

At halftime, the game was tied at 59. The Heat were ahead by four on the glass, with 24 points coming in the paint, four off second chances and five off turnovers.

In the third quarter, Herro connected on three triples- one assisted by a Jović DHO on the left wing, a straight-away jumper at the top of the key, and another set up by Jović on the break. Adebayo was perfect on four paint shots. And Jović had his finest spurt of the season, hustling for loose balls to set up the break and pulling up for one trifecta.

On defense, despite permitting two deep looks that missed, the Heat contested two of seven triples cleanly.

The Heat entered the fourth quarter ahead by nine, and Adebayo’s production carried the group until the finish line. First, he contested Jabari Smith’s 3-pointer and was first in the open court, receiving the outlet pass from Robinson for a two-handed jam. He also hit a jumper at the nail, rolled to the rim for a layup between three defenders and swished four freebies.

Herro, Jaquez and Robinson each converted a tray in the fourth, too.

Defensively in the fourth, Smith was held to zero baskets in four tries covered by Adebayo, Richardson and Jaquez, forcing him into deep jumpers.

The Heat won 120-113, starting its four-game homestand. The group finished with 15 fastbreak points, 11 scored via second chance, and 13 off turnovers. In the half court, it scored 121.8 points per 100 possessions, good enough for the 95 percentile of all games this season, per Cleaning the Glass.

Adebayo was in charge with 22 points on 75% shooting with 12 rebounds. Jović finished with six points, eight rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks.

At the on-court interview, Adebayo said he was getting greedy about possibly making his third All-Star team. (He previously repped the East in 2020 and 2023.) “The biggest thing about it is improving and getting better. As you grow in this league and you got two All-Star [appearances], you want three, you want four, you want five. So you just keep that mentality.”

At the postgame presser, Spoelstra said Jović was “really good” in his minutes. “I don’t know what his stat line was, but he was able to generate a lot of easy opportunities for us in the open court…”

–

For exclusive Miami Heat content and chats, subscribe to Off the Floor: