{"id":622835,"date":"2026-02-24T23:14:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T23:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/622835\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T23:14:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T23:14:18","slug":"this-time-bad-back-has-nikola-jovic-out-of-miami-heat-mix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/622835\/","title":{"rendered":"This time bad back has Nikola Jovic out of Miami Heat mix"},"content":{"rendered":"

The uneven season of Heat forward Nikola Jovic has suffered a round-trip setback.<\/p>\n

Having flown with the team Monday for\u00a0Tuesday night\u2019s game against the Milwaukee Bucks<\/a> at the start of a trip that concludes Thursday against the Philadelphia 76ers, the fourth-year forward returned to Miami on Tuesday due to what the team is listing as low-back tightness.<\/p>\n

The thinking in initially having Jovic take flight with the team on Monday was that he could potentially have been available for the game in Philadelphia. Instead, after treatment Monday\u00a0 night in Milwaukee, it was determined that additional treatment in Miami would be of greater benefit, with the Heat returning to action after the trip on Saturday at Kaseya Center in a nationally televised game against the Houston Rockets.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going back for more treatment,\u201d coach Erik Spoelstra said after the morning shootaround at Fiserv Forum, \u201cand we feel optimistic that the treatment will help speed up this process. It\u2019s nothing sinister that we don\u2019t think we\u2019ll be able to to handle. But we do need to calm it down, and so you feel better, move better, so he won\u2019t be feeling uncomfortable when he\u2019s out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

It has been an uneven season for Jovic<\/a>, with Tuesday his second consecutive game missed with the back issue. Prior to being held out of Saturday night\u2019s victory over the visiting Memphis Grizzlies, Jovic had fallen out of the rotation, playing only three minutes of mop-up duty in Friday night\u2019s road victory over the Atlanta Hawks.<\/p>\n

With Kel\u2019el Ware having settled into the role of the lone de facto Heat big man in the power rotation behind starting center Bam Adebayo, Spoelstra largely has gone with smaller lineups, with players such as Andrew Wiggins and Pelle Larsson cast in power roles.<\/p>\n

Jovic, who last summer received a four-year, $62.4 million extension that kicks in next season, has played 20 or more minutes only once in his past 17 appearances, six times over that stretch playing six or fewer.<\/p>\n

Jovic also has missed five games this season with a hip impingement, four with an elbow contusion and was held out three times by coach\u2019s decision. His lone start of the season came in the season opener.<\/p>\n

Jovic vowed recently that he intends to still make contributions this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have my own sense of drive. I want to win. They want to win, too. And, I mean, at the end of the day, I want to be a great player,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s what drives me every day \u2014 not the fact that coaches have to drive me and stuff like that. I drive myself, and I think I\u2019m my biggest motivator. That\u2019s about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In encouraging news from the Heat injury report, point guard Davion Mitchell has moved past the illness that limited him in the victory in Atlanta and kept him out of Saturday night\u2019s victory over the Grizzlies.<\/p>\n

Lone homecoming<\/p>\n

Tuesday marked the Heat\u2019s lone visit of the season, making it also the lone visit of the season for guard Tyler Herro back to his hometown.<\/p>\n

For years, Herro has been mentioned as a possible trade element in potential Heat bids for Bucks All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.<\/p>\n

Tuesday, though, he said the games back home as a member of the Heat always are embraced.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time feels like the first time,\u201d he said. \u201cI love being home. Playing against the Bucks, obviously, is something I grew up watching the Bucks my whole life. So to be able to come in here and play against them is awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuesday marked Herro\u2019s third game back<\/a> since being sidelined Jan. 15 by a rib injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m feeling good,\u201d he said. \u201cJust getting back into the swing of things, trying to stay healthy ultimately, be positive and just be happy I\u2019m back playing and just happy I\u2019m out here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mourning moment<\/p>\n

In celebration of Black History Month, the Heat and South Florida muralist Nate Dee will unveil a new community mural Wednesday at Ovrtwn Corner. The unveiling marks the launch of the Heat\u2019s Art Mural Series.<\/p>\n

Among those in attendance will be former Heat center and current team executive Alonzo Mourning, founder of the Overtown Youth Center.<\/p>\n

As part of the\u00a0 day of service in Overtown, the Heat will also host a meal service at Lotus House Women\u2019s Shelter and conduct a Jr. Heat basketball clinic at Frederick Douglass Elementary School.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The uneven season of Heat forward Nikola Jovic has suffered a round-trip setback. Having flown with the team…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":622836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3796],"tags":[7,165,189,6,478,470,4073,4072,675,66],"class_list":["post-622835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-orleans-pelicans","tag-basketball","tag-latest-headlines","tag-miami-heat","tag-nba","tag-new-orleans","tag-new-orleans-pelicans","tag-neworleans","tag-neworleanspelicans","tag-pelicans","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116128151648714333","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}