Erik Spoelstra knows what skill he wants Nikola Jovic to improve next. (Mandatory Credit: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
Through two preseason games, Miami Heat forward Nikola Jovic has been one of the team’s best players.
While the 22-year-old didn’t score his first basket of the night until the second half in the Heat’s 103-93 loss to the Bucks, Jovic looked great in the open court as a decision-maker and held his own defensively.
Though head coach Erik Spoelstra immediately pointed to an under-talked about phase of Jovic’s game that he’s harped on behind closed doors.
“It felt like he rebounded better tonight,” Spoelstra said after Monday’s game. “That’s something that his head coach has been talking to him about a lot. He’s improved basically everywhere except for the rebounding. And he took ownership of that tonight. He’s capable of rebounding much better than he has.
“It has to be a priority for him. You can see when he rebounds and puts his mind to it. … He’s fully capable of doing it. But there’s a lot of extra layers that come to (rebounding) — a responsibility. He’s got to rebound for his size, and he’s our best bust out guy (in transition). That leads to great action and flow up the court, but you can’t be a wandering generality on the glass. I thought he was much better than that tonight.“
Jovic finished the game with nine points, eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals on 3-of-7 shooting from the floor and 1-of-4 from 3-point range.
Miami’s doing its best to focus on pace offensively, and Jovic is one of their best transition initiators. Game flow will dictate how fast it plays on a game-by-game basis. But a wise man once said: No rebounds, no rings. Rebounding wins championships.
The Heat have statistically been one of the best defensive rebounding teams in the NBA under Erik Spoelstra, ranking in the top-6 in defensive rebounding percentage in five of the last six seasons. Jovic has been a decent rebounder relative to other wings, but that’s good enough for a Heat frontcourt devoid of impact rebounders.
Kel’el Ware and Bam Adebayo are the team’s two top rebounders. After them? It thins out. Being an effective rebounder — consistently — is all about positioning and effort. And Jovic must continue to improve his glass-work if they plan to “grab-and-go” off rebounds throughout 2025-26.
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