A look at Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s Christmas moment and the Jimmy Butler comparisons

It’s almost as if Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro was complimenting Jimmy Butler’s game. But instead, Herro was speaking about another Heat teammate’s offensive skill set.

“He’s able to attack bigs and guys who are smaller than him are too small,” Herro said. “He can post them up and just the way he finds holes in the defense to either make a play for someone else or make a play for himself is really incredible.”

While those same words could be said about Butler, this wasn’t about about Butler. Herro made this statement to praise Heat rookie revelation Jaime Jaquez Jr.

Herro was one of many in the Heat’s locker room who were left impressed by Jaquez’s standout Christmas stat line.

Jaquez, 22, recorded career-highs in points (31) and rebounds (10) while shooting an efficient 11 of 15 from the field and 8 of 8 from the foul line to help lead the Heat (18-12) to a 119-113 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night at Kaseya Center to get to six games above .500 for the first time this season. The Heat also won its ninth straight Christmas game to improve to 12-2 on the holiday for the highest winning percentage on Christmas among teams who have made more than one appearance.

“He’s a hell of a player, for sure, and we’re lucky to have him,” Herro continued, with the Heat set to return to practice Wednesday before flying across the country to begin a five-game trip on Thursday against the Golden State Warriors. “He does all the little things. Rebounding, defending, cutting, making the extra pass and then obviously the scoring is another add-on to his game. But I think what really stands out as a rookie is he’s able to come in here and do all the intangibles and do all the little things.”

Jaquez’s 31-point night tied Kyle Kuzma for the seventh-most points scored on Christmas by a rookie in NBA history. The only rookies to score more points on the holiday are Wilt Chamberlain (45), Walt Bellamy (35), LeBron James (34), Bill Cartwright (33), Patrick Ewing (32) and Oscar Robertson (32).

Jaquez also became the first NBA rookie to finish with a 30-point double-double on Christmas since Ewing did it in 1985.

“Definitely special,” Jaquez said after his memorable Christmas performance. “Great to get a win, career night, Christmas. I grew up watching these games and to be able to play and have a career night, I just go back to all the hard work and late nights in the gym just preparing for moments like this.”

In addition, Jaquez joined Dwyane Wade, Khalid Reeves, Kendrick Nunn, Herro, Sherman Douglas and Caron Butler as the only Heat rookies in franchise history to score more than 30 points in a game.

“He’s doing everything without forcing it,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said of Jaquez. “He’s playing within himself, he’s not making any bad plays. He’s playing basketball, having fun and he’s really reading the game right now. The game has slowed down so much since training camp. Obviously, you see him now. But he’s in pre-practice, he’s getting shots up before pre-practice, after practice. He’s asking questions, he’s very curious. So it doesn’t shock me that he would have a game like this.”

But what continues to surprise is Jaquez’s ability to consistently make an offensive impact in an off-ball role without having many plays called for him after spending most of his four-year college career at UCLA as a high-usage player.

Seven of Jaquez’s 11 made field goals in Monday’s win over the 76ers came off either a cut to the basket, in transition or in a spot-up opportunity. He also drew five fouls to generate eight free-throw attempts and grabbed a team-high five offensive rebounds.

It’s a skill that even got Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who usually doesn’t like to play the comparison game, to bring up Butler when discussing Jaquez.

“You wouldn’t do this with Jimmy. But Jimmy literally can just play the entire game without the ball and figure out how to get 20 points without a play called, if you challenge him to do that,” Spoelstra said when asked about Jaquez’s Christmas performance. “And all of those plays in between, he would just dominate all that.”

It’s that unique ability to make an impact with or without the ball in his hands paired with Jaquez’s effectiveness in the mid-post at a sturdy 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds that’s reminiscent of Butler. And Jaquez doesn’t shy away from the comparisons, saying during the predraft process that Butler is one of his favorite NBA players.

“I’ve learned a lot from just watching,” Jaquez said recently of lessons he’s learned from Butler in their first few months as Heat teammates. “I think more than anything I’m like a monkey see, monkey do kind of guy. You see what he’s doing and I try to do the exact same thing. So when I see him playing and trying to draw fouls, how under control he is, how calm he is at all times even when things aren’t going his way.

“So just being able to be there and watch, and obviously we talk throughout the game constantly about moving and where to be and things like that. So it’s just been tremendous. I think it’s helped my game a lot.”

Jaquez admits he also sees similarities in their offensive games.

“I think we’re very similar and different in a lot of ways,” said Jaquez, who was selected by the Heat with the 18th overall pick in this past summer’s draft. “I think we have very similar post-ups and things like that.”

Which specific areas does Jaquez try to pick Butler’s brain on?

“I would just say about cutting and movement and spacing on the floor is really the most important thing, especially when he gets the ball in isolations,” Jaquez said. “I try to find places where I can cut and I think we have a great chemistry together. We get a lot of assists to one another. So it’s been a lot of fun playing with him.”

Rather than playing with Butler, Jaquez has been playing in Butler’s spot lately. With Butler missing the last three games because of a strained left calf, Jaquez has started in his place instead of playing in his usual bench role.

Monday marked the 16th time in the last 17 games that Jaquez has finished with double-digit points, establishing himself as one of the league’s top rookies in a class that also includes talents like Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren, Scoot Henderson and Brandon Miller.

Among NBA rookies this season, Jaquez entered Tuesday ranked fourth in points per game (13.7), 10th in rebounds per game (3.9), seventh in assists per game (2.5), second in steals per game (1) and fourth in minutes per game (28.9). And among the five rookie who have attempted more than 10 field-goal attempts per game this season, Jaquez holds the second-best field-goal percentage (51.6 percent) behind only Holmgren and top three-point shooting percentage (37.9 percent).

“He has a moxie to him,” Spoelstra said of Jaquez following the Heat’s Christmas victory. “He has an experience level that you can feel that kind of transcends his age. But he just makes winning plays. This is a game that I thought he had around 21 points. I didn’t think he had that kind of (31-point) game because he does a lot of stuff without the ball in his hands. I don’t think I called one play for him tonight, literally.”

But Jaquez still found a way to make his presence felt.