Nikola Jovic’s broken hand will force more changes to Heat rotation: ‘I really feel for Niko’
As the Miami Heat searches for solutions amid a rough patch in its season, it now faces the possibility of missing an important rotation player for an extended stretch.
Third-year forward Nikola Jovic did not play in the second half of Sunday night’s 120-113 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum after a halftime X-ray on his right hand revealed a fractured second metacarpal.
“I really feel for Niko,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Sunday after the team’s fifth loss in the last six games to enter Monday’s matchup against the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena (7:30 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun) with a 26-29 record this season.
Considering Jovic’s shooting hand is broken, the expectation is he’ll likely be sidelined for an extended stretch. But the Heat has not yet issued a timetable for Jovic’s recovery with just seven weeks left in the regular season — and much of it will depend on whether surgery will be needed.
When Heat guard Tyler Herro broke his right hand during Game 1 of the Heat’s 2023 first-round playoff series against the Bucks, he went on to miss the rest of the team’s playoff run that ended in the NBA Finals two months later.
For now, Jovic traveled with the Heat to Atlanta for Monday’s game against the Hawks even though he won’t be available to play in the contest. With that game in Atlanta marking the end of the Heat’s three-game trip, Jovic will then return to Miami with the team to be evaluated by a specialist on Tuesday.
“I feel for Niko,” Spoelstra continued. “I know how much he has put into this. He’s had a couple injuries previously. This has nothing to do with it. He’s not snakebitten or anything like that. He actually was playing with some force tonight. I thought he got hit on the leg, he kept on holding his leg. And I was shocked by the prognosis on it. But we’ll see how long it will take and in the meantime other guys will have to step up.”
Jovic, 21, said he suffered his hand injury early in Sunday’s game during his first stint off the bench when he collided with Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma. Jovic still went on to record seven points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field and 1-of-2 shooting on threes and two rebounds in 15 first-half minutes before being ruled out for the rest of the game.
“I wouldn’t say I was shocked because it kind of got swollen quickly during the game,” Jovic said of learning at halftime that he broke his right hand. “I just didn’t want to come out because we were doing good. So, yeah, I can say that I probably expected that.”
When asked Sunday if he was told of a potential timetable for his recovery, Jovic said: “I got no idea, really.”
Jovic’s injury puts a pause on one of the best sustained stretches of his young NBA career.
After opening this season as a Heat starter, Jovic has since established himself as an important part of the Heat’s bench rotation. Despite not playing in the second half, Sunday still marked the 31st straight game that Jovic logged double-digit minutes in.
Jovic is averaging career-highs in points (10.7 per game), assists (2.8) and minutes (25.1) this season. He also has brought size to the Heat’s rotation at 6-foot-10 while shooting 37.1 percent on 4.6 three-point attempts per game this season to help space the floor for Miami’s offense.
“It’s tough,” said Jovic, who missed just three games due to injury this season (all because of a sprained left ankle) before fracturing his hand on Sunday. “I’ve been through some tough injuries before. My mom always says, ‘Some things just happen for a reason.’ Who knows why this happened today. Yeah, I’ll figure it out. This team needs everybody right now. Other guys will step up and show what they can do with playing time. So I’m not worried at all about the team, they will for sure do good.”
Among the Heat’s options to replace Jovic in the rotation are Kyle Anderson, Haywood Highsmith and Jaime Jaquez Jr.
“Our power rotation, we do have some depth there,” Spoelstra said. “Kyle will be able to give us some good minutes, Jaime will be able to step up and play. So we’ll have to figure it out. But we have the depth to be able to manage this.”
Anderson (6-9 and 230 pounds) was the one Spoelstra played to fill Jovic’s minutes in the second half of Sunday’s loss. Anderson has been with the Heat for just a few weeks after being dealt to Miami as part of the Jimmy Butler trade on Feb. 6, but he’s also an experienced veteran who has already played for five different teams during his 11 NBA seasons.
“100 percent,” Anderson said when asked if he can help fill Jovic’s void in the Heat’s rotation. “He’s obviously been playing at a real high level. I think I can bring some winning habits to the team and get going if I need to.”
Highsmith (6-5 and 220 pounds) and Jaquez (6-6 and 225 pounds) have been in the Heat’s rotation for most of the season, but they’ve both dropped out of the rotation recently.
Entering Monday’s matchup against the Hawks, Jaquez had received three DNP-CDs (did not play, coach’s decision) in the last four games and Highsmith had received four DNP-CDs in the last five games. Those mark the first three healthy scratches of Jaquez’s NBA career since he was taken by Miami in the first round of the 2023 draft and Highsmith had played in 46 straight games before those recent DNP-CDs.
“It’s a struggle,” Jaquez said of recently dropping out of the Heat’s rotation. “But it’s a part of the game. I’ve just tried to stay positive, understand that coach, he’s got a difficult job. It’s frustrating as a player. You obviously want to get in, help your team. But there are other ways you can help your team. Just got to continue to stay positive, give advice on what you’re seeing, still staying engaged.”
Jovic’s unfortunate injury now creates an opportunity for Jaquez and others who were out of the Heat’s rotation to play more minutes.
“I never want to see anybody go down, especially a guy like Niko, probably the closest of the guys to me,” Jaquez said.” But that’s just the name of the game. One guy goes down, someone has got to step up.”
But the Heat was upset to see Jovic go down, especially at a time when he had carved out a consistent role for himself. Jovic also had been playing extended fourth-quarter minutes lately.
“You lose a guy like that, young guy, ambitious, trying to make something of himself in this league and we want that for him,” Heat captain and center Bam Adebayo said of Jovic. “For him, I think it’s just a minor setback for a major comeback. When we get him back, we’ll be happy to see him in the lineup.”
ANOTHER MILESTONE NIGHT FOR BAM
With his sixth rebound against the Bucks on Sunday, Adebayo passed Alonzo Mourning to take sole possession of second place on the Heat’s all-time rebounding list with 4,809 rebounds. Udonis Haslem (5,791) has grabbed the most rebounds in Heat history.
“UD knows I’m chasing the record,” Adebayo said with a grin. “We ain’t got to say anything about it. But it’s good to see it actually happen. Like I said coming into the league, I want to be top two if not one in every category.”
This comes a few days after Adebayo recorded the 221st double-double of his NBA career in Friday’s win over the Toronto Raptors to tie Rony Seikaly’s record for the most double-double performances in Heat history.
At Adebayo’s current pace, he and Dwyane Wade could end up as No. 1 and No. 2 as the Heat’s all-time career leaders in categories like two-point field goals made, free throws made, assists, steals and points, among others. Adebayo also appears to be on his way to overtaking Haslem as the Heat’s all-time leading rebounder within the next two seasons.
