Tuesday evening, the Heat were on the road to face the Hawks. With a 98-86 loss, the Heat fell to 26-30 this season. They are ninth in the Eastern Conference with 26 games left.
On Sunday, backup PF Nikola Jovic broke the second metacarpal in his hand against the Bucks. He was diagnosed with a fracture by halftime. NBA insiders have announced that Jovic will miss at least the next four weeks with a broken hand.
Nikola Jovic will miss time with a broken hand
Nikola Jovic Out At Least 4 Weeks With Broken Hand https://t.co/UHh76RZ8R8
— RealGM (@RealGM) February 26, 2025
With the 27th pick in the 2022 NBA draft, the Heat selected Nikola Jovic. The 21-year-old played in Europe before his time in the NBA. Jovic has spent the last three seasons with Miami. He’s played in 107 games and has made 56 starts. Jovic’s (10.7) points and (2.8) assists per game is a new career-high. Nikola Jovic is a modern-day big man who can space the floor with his shooting.
For his career, Jovic shoots (.370) percent from beyond the arc. Head coach Erik Spoelstra has Jovic averaging (25.1) minutes per game in 2024-25. He’s a valuable piece off the bench for Miami. Unfortunately, they will be without Jovic for at least four weeks. He suffered a broken hand on Sunday against the Bucks. Not ideal for the Heat to lose a key rotation player with 26 regular season games left.
Miami is 1-6 in their last seven games and has lost two straight. They are only one game back from seventh in seventh in the Eastern Conference. With Jovic out at least four weeks, he’ll miss roughly 15 games for the Heat. The earliest he could make a return to the lineup would be the end of March. On Wednesday night, the Heat will face the Hawks for a second straight game. Miami only scored 86 points on Monday in their loss to Atlanta. Can the Heat get a much-needed win?
