Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. experiences ‘Welcome to NBA’ moment in Saturday’s loss to Bulls

Through the first three-plus weeks of Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s rookie NBA season, he has hardly looked like a first-year player. Jaquez has immediately carved out a significant role for himself off the Miami Heat’s bench with the help of his college experience as a 22-year-old who played four seasons at UCLA.

But it was only a matter of time before Jaquez ran into one of his first real rookie moments.

Heat ‘let one get away’ in loss to Bulls that snaps seven-game win streak. Takeaways and details

“Talk about a ‘Welcome to the NBA’ moment, I think tonight was one of those nights,” Jaquez said following the Heat’s 102-97 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night at United Center that kicked off a five-game trip and snapped Miami’s seven-game winning streak.

Tasked with defending Bulls six-time All-Star forward DeMar DeRozan for a chunk of the fourth quarter, Jaquez lost that battle even while providing quality individual defense during some crucial late-game possessions.

The 34-year-old DeRozan shot 3 of 4 from the field in the fourth quarter with Jaquez as his primary defender on Saturday. For the game, according to NBA tracking stats, DeRozan totaled 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field and drew two fouls during the 12 possessions that Jaquez guarded him.

“Jaime was introduced to a guy that really he’s a professional scorer and a professional foul drawer,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, with the Heat staying in Chicago for another matchup against the Bulls on Monday (8 p.m., Bally Sports Sun). “So it is tough to put pressure on him. You have to work on getting him out a step and then not letting him walk you back.”

That’s a lesson Jaquez learned at the wrong time for the Heat, as DeRozan began what ended up as the most important possession of the night with the ball at the top of the three-point line before backing down Jaquez to the free-throw line. Then DeRozan gave a shoulder fake to his left before spinning right and taking and making a tough 18-foot turnaround fadeaway jumper over the outstretched hand of the 6-foot-6 Jaquez to break a tie and give the Bulls a two-point lead with 21.9 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

“[DeRozan] had a couple other looks in the fourth quarter that were just the same, but he missed them,” Spoelstra said when asked about that possession. “That one, it was his comfort spot — 16 feet right into his rhythm pull-up. The defense was good, but his offense was better.”

That DeRozan shot ended up as the game-winner, with the Heat not scoring again to lose Saturday despite taking a big 21-point lead in the first quarter and a 10-point lead with 8:04 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Bulls closed the game on a 27-12 run to complete the comeback win behind 12 fourth-quarter points from DeRozan.

“I thought I contested it well,” Jaquez said of DeRozan’s game-winning jumper. “Like Spo said, this guy is a professional scorer. ... He’s a guy I looked up to a lot growing up, just watched his game. Really just trying to guard him live is something completely different. But it’s all a learning experience. Just trying to do what I can, make him take a tough shot. He got me a couple times, but I think at the end I made him take a tough one. But that’s who he is, that’s what he does.”

Jaquez has already been challenged by the Heat’s coaching staff to defend some of the league’s top scorers during the first few weeks of his first NBA regular season. Along with DeRozan, Jaquez has also spent extended time guarding other stars like Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics, Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers this season.

“I respect it,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said of Jaquez defending DeRozan down the stretch of Saturday’s game. “It takes guts to really want to guard a guy like that because at any point in time he’s up faking, you jump and it could be an and-one or he’ll blow by you. So I respect rook for really stepping up to the challenge.”

On the offensive end, Jaquez closed Saturday’s loss with six points, three rebounds and three turnovers in 27 minutes.

Jaquez, whose defensive metrics in isolation situations had the been among the best in the NBA entering Saturday’s game, could get another opportunity to defend DeRozan when the Heat and Bulls face off again in Chicago on Monday for the second consecutive game.

“I mean, how else are you going to learn?” Adebayo said. “You come into this game as a youngster and you got guys who are 10, 12 years into this league. So you’re going to run into a matchup where you’re going to have a savvy vet. You’re going to run into a guy like DeMar, who’s going to pump fake four times, know the scouting report and make you foul him. So it’s good that he’s getting his feet wet early.”

MARTIN’S REVIEW

Martin was hard on himself after finishing Saturday’s loss with five points on 2-of-9 shooting from the field, two rebounds and one steal in 15 minutes off the bench while posting a plus/minus of minus-14 in his second game back from injury.

“It still seems like a work in progress just trying to get my legs and my feet up under me right now, just trying to stay confident and comfortable with my body and learn where I’m getting my shots and stuff like that all over again,” Martin said following Saturday’s performance.

“So I knew the first couple games were going to be a little frustrating, feel-out games. But I’m more mad about the impact I brought in the second unit right now. I’m more upset about losing that lead and not really worried about shots falling. That’s going to come as I keep playing. But I got to impact the game better than that.”

After missing 10 straight games because of a knee issue, Martin is averaging 5.5 points, 1.5 rebounds, one assist and 0.5 steals in 13.7 minutes per game while shooting 30.8 percent from the field and 3 of 7 (42.9 percent) from three-point range in his first two games back from injury.

▪ There are no changes on the Heat’s injury report for Monday’s game against the Bulls.

Tyler Herro (sprained ankle), R.J. Hampton (sprained knee), Nikola Jovic (G League), Jamal Cain (G League) and Cole Swider (G League) remain out for the Heat.

The Heat practiced Sunday afternoon at DePaul University in preparation for Monday’s rematch with the Bulls.

“We worked on some of our offense,” Spoelstra said following Sunday’s practice. “Obviously, it wasn’t the most efficient offense that we’ve had in the fourth quarter, but you keep on working at it. These games are great experiences for us, even when they are disappointing ends to it. And we just keep on moving forward. It’s a good thing we play them again tomorrow. They’re a good defensive team, as well. They’re disruptive, they protect the paint, so they make you have to work all the different layers of your menu.”