MIAMI — Since Nikola Jovic was drafted as a 19-year-old in 2022, the emphasis from the Miami Heat staff has been for him to appreciate what is required to be a professional.

For the fun-loving Serb, it has been a life lesson years in the making.

Now consider it a lesson learned.

Amid a rebirth, including Monday night’s 19-point performance in the 147-123 victory over the Denver Nuggets at Kaseya Center, Jovic paused afterward to reveal somewhat of an epiphany.

“I would give credit to my family, who kind of helped me get back on track,” he said by his locker. “For me it was to stop looking at basketball as a hobby and something that I love, and look at it more as a job, as a professional, because that’s what I am now.

“So I come in every day with a different approach, and I get it has to stay that way.”

The kid stuff has given way to the reality of how much the Heat can benefit when the versatile 6-foot-10 forward is at his professional best.

The change for the better has been tangible.

“He’s like more serious,” guard Norman Powell said, “in terms of being locked in and what he needs to do, his job every single night, making sure that he’s limiting his mistakes, and even if he does have mistakes, getting over it really quickly and not letting it linger and not let it compound into two, three, four mistakes. Like make a mistake, adjust, and continue to attack the game.

“I’ve always joked with him, like, ‘Leave that other Niko in the past.’ Like pre-injury Niko, we don’t want that. We want this Niko now. I’m really glad that he’s turned the corner.”

Prior to missing four games with an elbow bruise, Jovic was, well, a mess, a four-year player with seemingly shattered confidence.

Since the return, double-digit scoring in each appearance, his first such three-game run of the season, with the Heat on Monday night outscoring the Nuggets by 24 when he was on the court, a game after the Heat outscored the Indiana Pacers by 35 when he was on the court.

“We have our rough patches where we’re trying to figure it out and it just feels like it’s not going well for us. Sometimes you have to change your point of view so you can get realigned,” center and team captain Bam Adebayo said. “And he’s realigned, obviously. He’s playing well and we want him to keep playing like that.”

From teen prodigy . . . to responsible 22-year-old adult.

“It’s on me to show up every day, show them that I’m working,” Jovic said. “You know how it is with the Heat, you got to show them every night that you can play, because if you mess up two nights in a row, you’re probably going to find out you’re not going to go back into the game.

“It’s on me from now on to show these people that I should continue to play.”

Which is all that teammates are asking.

“I mean we’re a totally different team when he’s aggressive, when he’s assertive on the offensive end, and assertive on the defensive end, as well,” Powell said. “His versatility, I’m always on him. He’s 6-10 — play like you’re 6-10. When he does that, he doesn’t hesitate, he’s a totally different basketball player, and we need that from him.

“We need that aggressiveness, because his skill set is so unique, being able to handle the ball, push the pace, get down into the paint, find guys, shoot the three. He’s just so versatile. And even on the defensive end, his height, his length, being able to be disruptive.”

No MRI

The Heat apparently caught a break with the sprained right ankle that took guard Pelle Larsson out for the night 26 seconds into Monday’s fourth quarter.

Unlike the sprained left ankle that had Larsson out for five games from Dec. 9 to Dec. 26, the Heat said an MRI was not required Tuesday.

The Heat next play Thursday against the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena.