Nikola Jovic is finally showing some signs of breaking out of his recent slump after a strong performance against the Indiana Pacers. If this is a sign of things to come, Jovic could be showing some life at the perfect time for the Miami Heat.

Jovic finished with 19 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists on 50 percent shooting from the field for the Heat in their big win over the Pacers Saturday night. And with the Heat nursing multiple key injuries, Jovic finally breaking out of his season-long slump would only mean good things for this Heat team.

The Heat’s injuries are stacking up

Tyler Herro has only played in six games this season and has missed the last seven. The latest update by Heat coach Erik Spoelstra states that there’s still no updated timeline on when Herro will return. The good news is that Herro is progressing, but there’s no predicting when he will return to the lineup.

Similarly, Bam Adebayo has also been sidelined for the past two games. The injury report says that Bam is dealing with a back injury, but in his words, it goes well beyond just his back.

When asked tonight if his back issue is the only nagging injury that has bothered him recently, Bam Adebayo said: “It wasn’t always the back. It just crept up to the back.”

— Anthony Chiang (@Anthony_Chiang) December 28, 2025

That’s not exactly what you want to hear, and Bam remains out. Like Herro, who knows if Bam will miss another game or two, or weeks. But that’s the type of season it’s been for the Heat on the injury front.

Miami has played many games this season in which they’ve been at full strength, and it’s certainly had a huge impact on their play. From a coaching perspective, Spo hasn’t been able to lean into a comfortable rotation.

Not knowing what personnel are going to be available at any given night can’t be easy by any means for this staff.

Similarly, the same could be said about the players on the floor for the Heat. Having players move in and out of the lineup can’t be easy for the team to find any type of rhythm.

And that’s part of the struggles that the Heat have had to work through so far this season. But injuries are part of the game, and the Heat can’t complain. Every team deals with it at least at some point during the year.

The Heat’s injury struggles just haven’t let up, and that’s part of the frustrations.

But it is positive to see signs of promise from Jovic. After such a bad start to the season, the Heat desperately needed to see any glimmer of hope from Jovic (especially after giving him the huge contract extension before the start of the season.

Miami could finally be seeing that.

Of course, Jovic will now need to string good games together. That’s been the true struggle for him this year. But it does seem as if there is some hope he could be breaking out of his slump with his play over the last two games.

The Heat could certainly use this mid-season lifeline.