Jaime Jaquez Jr. earning trust of Heat coaches, teammates. Also, the latest Heat injury report
Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s game-day routine includes an afternoon nap. But that nap didn’t happen before his first NBA regular-season game on Wednesday.
“I usually try to take a nap before the game, but I couldn’t even sleep,” Jaquez said. “I was super excited.”
The excitement was there, but the nerves went away quickly. The Miami Heat’s rookie looked like he belonged in his NBA debut with an efficient and effective stat line of six points on 3-of-3 shooting from the field, two rebounds, two assists and two steals in 13 minutes off the bench to help contribute to the Heat’s season-opening 103-102 home win over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night.
The Heat outscored the Pistons by four points in Jaquez’s minutes.
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“When I got out there, it just felt like basketball,” Jaquez said. “I think the nerves kind of settled down when I first got out there. I think the preseason helped a lot, those games. I felt really comfortable.”
What was most impressive is the trust Heat coach Erik Spoelstra showed in Jaquez in his first NBA regular-season action, allowing him to bring the ball down the court at times and also running offense through him in the mid-post.
Jaquez took advantage of those opportunities, creating offense for the Heat out of those post-ups.
The first came late in the opening quarter when Caleb Martin dumped the ball to Jaquez in the mid-post near the baseline. Jaquez spun around to face up before getting Pistons forward Joe Harris to bite on a pump fake and driving past him for a reverse layup finish.
Then in the second quarter, Tyler Herro bounced an entry pass to Jaquez in the mid-post near the elbow. Jaquez again got his defender to bite on a pump fake, driving past Pistons guard Killian Hayes and finishing with a switch-handed reverse layup.
And in the fourth quarter, Duncan Robinson bounced a pass to Jaquez for a face-up opportunity on the edge of the three-point line. Jaquez gave a wiggle to his defender to drive baseline before dribbling behind his back to get his defender off balance and spinning into two points on a one-handed push shot from eight feet away.
Jaquez also made a few passes to open teammates out of his post-ups.
“I wasn’t expecting that, but I’m very glad that he trusts me to put myself in those positions to make the right play,” Jaquez said of the trust that Spoelstra showed in him on Wednesday. “A lot of those sets were very familiar to UCLA in those exact same positions. So I felt very comfortable.”
Evidently, Spoelstra also felt comfortable running offense through the 6-foot-5 and 225-pound Jaquez.
“He has an ‘it’ quality, whatever that it is where he’ll make the appropriate plays,” Spoelstra said. “It’s not necessarily like a lot of young players, either they’re going to fast or they’re only looking to score. He was making the appropriate plays.
“You can see his footwork, you can see his poise and his skill level pretty much all across the board, off the dribble or cuts and things of that nature. We have to keep the minutes where they are now, but it’s hard not to be encouraged by those minutes.”
It helps that Jaquez is an older and experienced NBA rookie as a 22-year-old who played four seasons at UCLA.
“He almost looked like a vet out there,” said Heat forward Kevin Love, who also played at UCLA but more than a decade ago. “Just how he settled himself, let the game come to him. He didn’t get too sped up and he used his size to his advantage. I know he was on a minutes restriction tonight. But I’m very impressed with what he did and how he works.”
Jaquez’s minutes restriction in the opener came after he missed the Heat’s final four preseason games because of a groin injury.
“I feel good. But it’s not up to me,” Jaquez said of his minutes restriction on Wednesday. “So I just try to trust in the training staff and what they tell me. They’re going to get me in the best shape possible.”
If Jaquez continues to make a positive impact like he did in his first NBA regular-season game, there will be more minutes coming his way even after Haywood Highsmith and Josh Richardson return from injuries.
“Jaime is not a regular rookie,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said. “A guy that’s experienced, he’s been in big games before, he’s been in those games where he’s needed to be a leader, he’s needed to be the one option. That’s throughout all those years in college. Me and Tyler came in here at 19 after one year in college and had to figure it out. I feel like he’s coming into the league ready.”
A THREE-POINT THING
After averaging 34.8 three-point attempts per game last regular season, the Heat put up just 22 threes in Wednesday’s season opener. The Heat only attempted 22 or fewer threes in three games last regular season.
Matching the three-point volume needed to have sustained success in the NBA is a concern after the free-agent departures of two of the Heat’s top three-point shooters from last season (Max Strus and Gabe Vincent). But Spoelstra is not worried following the first game of this regular season.
“All the analytics people out there, we’re going to get our threes up,” Spoelstra said with a smile. “We also have guys that can operate in the paint and that can distort a defense just as effectively when the right guys are cooking from those areas.”
▪ The Heat’s opening night starting lineup of Kyle Lowry, Herro, Jimmy Butler, Love and Adebayo finished Wednesday’s win with a plus/minus of plus-one in 19 minutes together. Lowry did not score and only attempted one field goal in 32 minutes on the court, which marked the fifth game in his NBA career that he finished scoreless when playing more than 30 minutes.
▪ The Heat ruled out Highsmith (left knee sprain) and Richardson (right foot discomfort) for Friday night’s matchup against the Celtics in Boston. Highsmith and Richardson also missed the season opener.
Duncan Robinson (left foot sprain), Martin (left knee tendinosis) and Jaquez (left groin strain) are listed as probable.
