Erik Spoelstra defends Kel’el Ware, Nikola Jovic after frustrating outings

While it is The Miami Heat had an uneven game against the San Antonio Spurs in the 107-101 loss, there were two players who had relatively frustrating games Kel’el Ware and Nikola Jovic. As it is The Heat tried to keep Victor Vembanyama and the Spurs, there’s no denying the two young stars had off nights, leading up to the head coach Erik Spoelstra coming to their defense.

Both Vare and Jović remained scoreless on Thursday night, as they each had -20 and -13 on the floor, which are the two lowest recorded on the court. Spoelstra would go on to say that having these types of performances is “part of the evolution for young players” and that whatever boxing says, does going out affect winning?

“It’s part of the evolution for young players,” Spoelstra said, according to The Miami Herald. “It’s all about whether you can make your final box score positive and positive in a big way. I just want everyone to be at least neutral or positive. And you don’t want to be deep in the negative, whatever that is on the plus/minus.”

Watching Ware, making his fifth straight start, miss all four of his shots from the field to go with seven rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block. He also had an uphill task against the superstar in Vembanyama.

“It’s like OK, this is this type of game. This game is a little less fluid,” Spoelstra said. “Okay, how else can we impact the game? For Kel’el, it could be 12 rebounds and three turnovers at the rim, playing with energy or whatever. Just whatever, just impacting that unit where it’s positive.”

Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on Nikola Jovic’s frustrating game

With Heat is a new and improved attack as one of the main stories of the team this season, it does not go without players, especially the bench where Jović is currently playing. The 22-year-old played just 10 minutes the entire game and missed all five of his shots, along with one rebound and an assist.

“Niko, he had a great transition layup, and he missed his first layup,” Spoelstra said of Jovic. “And then it changed his energy now the rest of the game. That’s going to happen. It’s a competition. It’s tough on the road. But now you can come out with 10 rebounds, three rebounds, some great offensive ball movements where you help somebody else or drive, and then you just feel great about it because you’re contributing to the win.”

Either way, Ware and Jovic want to be back on Sunday when the Heat take on the Los Angeles Lakers.