MIAMI – Although the Miami Heat lost its regular-season finale against the Washington Wizards heartbreakingly, it was undoubtedly an impeccable outing from Jaime Jaquez Jr., the team’s first-round pick from 2023. With the Heat preparing now for the play-in tournament, the one aspect the team could hang its hat on is Jaquez’s performance amid what has been a disappointing season.
Jaquez would end up scoring a career-high 41 points on 17 for 25 shooting from the field to go along with 10 rebounds and seven assists. The 41 points is by far a season-high (was 20 on Jan. 9 against the Utah Jazz) and a career-high (was 31 on Christmas Day 2023 vs. Philadelphia 76ers) as he was unstoppable as he said after the contest he was “just happy to be out there playing.”
“I felt well, felt good. Just happy to be out there playing,” Jaquez said. “We had a great group of guys out there competing, trying to win the game. Didn’t go our way to end. But just happy to be back out and playing.”
He was productive in driving downhill into the paint which from the two seasons in the league, has been his bread and butter. However, it’s been a sophomore slump after an impressive rookie campaign, but even with the regression, he was preparing and contributing to the team in other ways.
“Just continue to stay ready. Try to be a great teammate,” Jaquez said. “Just keep encouraging the guys that are in the rotation, and letting them know my info and what I’m seeing, you know, from the bench and just still trying to be involved, engaged, and on the court, just keep working on my game.”
Heat’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. has “clarity” per Erik Spoelstra
Jaquez had fallen out of the Heat’s rotation throughout the season in what has been a learning curve for the UCLA product, but Sunday afternoon served as a reminder of the talent he does have. The same sentiments were echoed by head coach Erik Spoelstra who said to ClutchPoints how he was playing “free in the mind” and has “clarity.”
“It was good to see Jaime, play free in the mind, play aggressive,” Spoelstra said. “He definitely had the downhill part of it. And we haven’t forgotten that’s what he can do. It’s a matter of just having clarity in his head and his role, and then to be able to make reads off the dribble against the really good teams that won’t necessarily look like that, there’s going to be rotating defenders and making the right play out of that.”
“But it was great to see him, you know, make, the plays in the moment of truth,” Spoelstra continued. “He had some real clutch plays too when we’re playing from behind to eventually take the lead. You know, he has that savviness. He’s got that that want and the will.”
At any rate, Miami finishes the regular season at 37-45 and 10th in the East as the team now has a two-day break before heading to take on the Chicago Bulls in the first play-in tournament game.
