Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo Says Nikola Jovic's Impact Goes Beyond The Box Score

Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo praised Nikola Jovic after performance against the Houston Rockets.

Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra always talks about the plays and effort beyond the stat sheet.

Bam Adebayo echoed that same testament about Heat forward Nikola Jovic after their Monday night victory over the Houston Rockets.

"I always talk about the stuff behind the scenes," Adebayo said. "He works hard every day. There’s not a moment that goes by where if I’m in the gym, I don’t see him. He's doing the little things, he's watching film, he's trying to understand the game. He's doing pre-practice, he's doing practice, and those days add up for games like this. He only had six points, but that shows that end of the box score doesn’t matter a whole lot when it comes to impact and winning."

Jovic didn't have a great scoring night, but it was his defensive effort that made the difference.

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He had eight rebounds while logging career highs with six assists, two blocks and two steals. Jovic is starting to make his case for being in the main rotation after barely getting playing time last season.

“Nikola's special in his own way," Adebayo said. "He can dribble, he can shoot, he can pass. He’s 6’10 and he’s 20. So having a coach that has so much confidence in you...that just speaks to 1) the respect of his coach and 2) the respect that he has from his coach.”

The Heat play the Oklahoma City Thunder (24-11) Wednesday night.

Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside the Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.

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