After G League ‘disaster,’ trio of Cain, Hampton and Jovic steps up for short-handed Heat

Last week, the Miami Heat’s trio of Jamal Cain, RJ Hampton and Nikola Jovic were getting run off the court in a G League game. On Thursday night, they each played important roles in the Heat’s win over the Golden State Warriors.

With the Heat missing half of its usual rotation because of ongoing injury issues, Cain, Hampton and Jovic all logged double-digit minutes and produced positive results in Thursday night’s 114-102 win against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center to begin a five-game West Coast trip. The Heat now stands seven games above .500 for the first time this season at 19-12.

“Without those three guys and their contributions tonight, we’re not winning this game,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after Thursday’s victory over the Warriors. “They all gave us impactful moments throughout the course of the game.”

Heat beats Warriors behind big nights from Herro, Cain: Takeaways and details

With rotation regulars such as Jimmy Butler (left calf strain), Kyle Lowry (soreness), Caleb Martin (right ankle sprain) and Josh Richardson (low back discomfort) out against the Warriors because of injuries, Cain, Hampton and Jovic took advantage of rare opportunities to play extended minutes on Thursday.

Cain, 24, finished with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and 2-of-5 shooting from three-point range, six rebounds and two steals in 28 minutes off the bench in his 10th NBA appearance of the season. He tied his career high in points and steals, while setting a new career high in made field goals and setting a new season high in rebounds.

Hampton, 22, closed with seven points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field and 1-of-2 shooting from the foul line, two rebounds and three assists in 25 minutes in his first start of the season and fourth NBA appearance of the season. He established a season high in points, field goals made, free throws made and minutes.

Jovic, 20, recorded 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field and 3-of-5 shooting from the free-throw line, three rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block in 20 minutes off the bench in his fifth NBA appearance of the season. He tied his career high in field goals made, steals and blocks, while setting a new season-high in points and free throws made.

“The three young guys in particular, it’s not easy,” Spoelstra said of Cain, Hampton and Jovic, with the Heat set to continue its West Coast trip on Saturday against the Utah Jazz at Delta Center (5 p.m., Bally Sports Sun). “They go often times weeks without playing, but they have to stay ready, as UD [Udonis Haslem] always says, to be ready. And then they also have to improve. So they can’t just be the same players they are because they’re trying to prove themselves and really establish themselves in this league.”

They also had to put last week’s disappointing G League loss behind them. With Cain, Hampton and Jovic all starting for the Sioux Falls Skyforce for the first time, the Raptors 905 dominated the Skyforce 129-110 on Dec. 19 at the G League Winter Showcase in Orlando.

“We brought a full bus of people to that game,”said Spoelstra, who attended that G League game along with other members of the coaching staff since the Heat was also in Orlando for a matchup against the Magic last week. “It was horrible. Disaster.”

But Spoelstra doesn’t believe it was an unproductive disaster.

“Nothing changed,” Spoelstra said following Thursday’s win when asked what changed for Cain, Hampton and Jovic since last week’s G League loss. “All of that is important. This is the part that nobody really wants to hear. Player development is not just getting shots after practice with a player development coach. It is learning how to impact winning, learning how to embrace a role, dealing with losing.”

With Cain, Hampton and Jovic rejoining the Heat for shootaround in Orlando the morning after that double-digit G League loss last week, Spoelstra said the three developmental players were “almost ashamed.”

“They walked into our team meting and they felt so ashamed because we played poorly and they wanted to play better,” Spoelstra said. “Well, I think that’s part of player development. You get angry, you start to figure out collectively how you can find some solutions to get over the top, to play better and to win. And I think when there’s a score, all of it is good. You celebrate the times that you play well. And then you figure out when you’re not playing well what we need to do to do better.”

After recording negative minutes in that G League loss, Cain, Hampton and Jovic each turned in positive minutes with the Heat on Thursday. In the Heat’s win over the Warriors, Cain posted a plus/minus of plus-5, Hampton finished with a plus/minus of plus-8 and Jovic closed with a plus/minus of plus-10.

“It felt amazing, man,” Cain said on Bally Sports Sun during a postgame interview. “I just wanted to do whatever I could to help my team get this W.”

Spoelstra complimented Cain and Jovic after the game, noting that Cain “has been progressively getting better” and Jovic “has been getting a lot better behind the scenes.”

“He’s really embraced a role as a defender and fills in the gaps offensively,” Spoelstra said of Cain. “We never ever run a play for him, but he finds a way to either space the floor or cut or offensive rebound. He just fills in a lot of those gaps, those energy gaps.”

As for Jovic, Spoelstra said: “He’s 20 years old and his head coach has seen progress. If he’s not playing, that doesn’t mean that he is not making progress or that we’ve given up on him. We’re developing him and some of these moments in the G League, I think, are really important.”

Cain and Hampton are on two-way contracts with the Heat, and Jovic is in the second year of his rookie contract after being selected by the Heat with the 27th overall pick in last year’s draft. They are still learning how to impact winning in the NBA, but Thursday’s contributions represented a step in the right direction.

As the Heat continues to deal with injury issues, more may be needed from Cain, Hampton and/or Jovic soon or their next game action could come in the G League. Whatever happens, the Heat needs them to stay ready and they were ready for their moment in Thursday’s win over the Warriors.

“The big thing, we’ve had a lot of moving parts and this has required our team to have a lot of different guys step up. That’s the way we’ve looked at it,” Spoelstra said. “You want guys to feel involved, feel like they can contribute to winning, feel like they can impact winning, learn how they can impact winning. And I’ve said now for a few weeks: As we try to figure things out, a great talent to learn in this league as a team is just to learn how to win and then you figure out all the minutiae.”

INJURY REPORT

The Heat may again be missing a chunk of its rotation on Saturday against the Jazz.

The Heat ruled out Orlando Robinson (G League), Cole Swider (G League) and Dru Smith (season-ending knee injury).

The Heat listed Martin (right ankle sprain) as doubtful; Butler (left calf strain), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (non-COVID illness), Lowry (soreness) and Richardson (low back discomfort) as questionable; and Duncan Robinson (left ankle sprain) as probable.