The Miami Heat’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. trips with the ball as the Orlando Magic’s Paolo Banchero (5) looks on in the first half of an NBA Cup quarterfinal at Kia Center on Dec. 9 in Orlando.
JULIO AGUILAR/ GETTY IMAGES/ TNS
MIAMI — From the moment the Miami Heat moved to this season’s high-octane offense that emphasizes rim attacks, Jaime Jaquez Jr. experienced a revival. When the Heat got away from that approach, the season started to get away from Jaquez.
It is why Jaquez stands as arguably the team’s greatest proponent of standing by the style, getting back to the early-season aggression.
“We’re really just buying into the principles that we’ve been working on since training camp,” Jaquez said of the two-game winning streak
the Heat carried into Monday night’s game against the Denver Nuggets at Kaseya Center. “We kind of got away from it. And we realized what works. And for us, that’s cutting, being disruptive, reckless, playing fast.
“So we really just got back to what wins for us and embracing that identity and bringing that every single night.”
So the Heat got back to that and Jaquez got back to his reinvigorated self.
“He’s been very consistent this year,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of Jaquez’s return from his sopho-more-season swoon. “And I know there was a stretch where we were losing those games, he was missing some shots and there were some plays he could make. But the competitive will and competitive spirit, that’s what we need.”
Jaquez entered the week as one of three players with 400 or more points off the bench, along with the San Antonio Spurs’ Keldon Johnson and the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Naz Reid.
Wiggins, too With Jaquez again boosting the bench, there also has been a boost from Andrew Wiggins, who helped keep the starting lineup afloat amid the injury absences of Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo.
“I’ve talked to Wiggs a few times,” guard Norman Powell said, “about we need him to be aggressive, assertive on offense, doing the little things, playing off of the catch, attacking guys, put him in the post and just being confident in everything that he does and aggressive. And also just his energy, keeping plays alive, his second jumps on offensive rebounds and his athletic ability on the defensive end.”
Lately Spoelstra has also been cycling Wiggins into rotations with the second unit.
“I mean I love playing with Wiggs,” Jaquez said. “He impacts the game on so many levels, defensively, offensively. Just a guy, like I said, impacts that game in so many ways.
“He’s a big help to our group, obviously he’s got so much experience, knowledge.”