Former Bruins Star Reaches Impressive Milestone

Former UCLA standout Jaime Jaquez Jr. is starting to find the success he had in his rookie season.

Nov 15, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Miami Heat guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. (11) in the second half against the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Former UCLA star Jaime Jaquez Jr. is in just his second NBA season and has already reached an incredible milestone just over a month into Year 2.

The Miami Heat forward surpassed 1,000 career points in the Heat's win over the Toronto Raptors on Friday.

Jaquez finished with 15 points, four rebounds and three assists, his highest-scoring game of the season thus far.

After a standout rookie season, Jaquez had gotten off to a slow start to his 2024 campaign, but as of late, he has been more aggressive, attempting 10 and nine shots in his last two outings, respectively.

Jaquez's coach, Erik Spoelstra, one of the best in the game, discussed the young forward's aggressiveness.

“[H]e [Jaquez] was assertive on his catches, and he's really been working diligently on his shooting, he doesn't have to be defined by that,” Spoelstra said after Friday's contest. “But if he's giving him wide open shots, you know, we want him to take those, but we also want him to be aggressive and put pressure on the defense, get to the rim. He did a lot of good things, he just felt his inertia all game long. And that's what we want.”

Jaquez's star teammate Jimmy Butler praised the approach.

“I like it, I like it whenever he is aggressive,” Butler said. “I like whenever he's playing with so much confidence, and he's celebrating, he's getting out in the open floor. We want him to get back to being that, doing that, and just being who he is, man. He knows that he belongs, and he knows that he can put the ball in the basket. And he knows he's going to get right even when he can't get right.”

Jaquez was a star at UCLA, where he played four seasons. He took off in his senior season, averaging almost 18 points per game and 8.2 rebounds.

Jaquez was named to the All-Pac-12 First Team and the All-America Second Team and was named a Naismith Award semifinalist for that season.

His 659 total points that year ranked second in the Pac-12, as did his points average.

Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @UCLAInsideronSI and @tcav30 and never miss another breaking news story again.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.