Nikola Jokic vs. Nikola Jovic in Heat-Nuggets NBA Finals? Not quite, but kind of

Miami Heat rookie forward Nikola Jovic and Denver Nuggets two-time MVP center Nikola Jokic share similar names. And they were also able to share the same court for a few seconds in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

With the Nuggets already on their way to the win on Thursday, Jovic entered the first game of the championship series with 32.8 seconds to play. Jovic immediately went right at Jokic on a drive to the basket, but Jokic blocked Jovic’s layup attempt.

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It wasn’t the result Jovic was hoping for, but his first experience playing on the same court as Jokic is one he’ll remember. Both Jovic and Jokic are from Serbia and played for Mega Basket in Serbia before they were drafted into the NBA.

“He means a lot to our country with the things he does,” Jovic said when asked about Jokic ahead of Sunday night’s Game 2 of the Finals in Denver. “How he represents our country is amazing. Playing against him is unbelievable. Everybody is proud of me just being with the team and accomplishing everything I did this year.”

The 19-year-old Jovic met the 28-year-old Jokic earlier this season for the first time over a February dinner in Miami, getting to know each other a little it.

“He’s a really funny guy,” Jovic said. “He’s a great guy.”

Jokic already knew about Jovic before the dinner because of mutual connections in Serbia.

“He was playing in the same team that I played back in Serbia,” Jokic said. “One of his coaches was my godfather, who worked there. He told me, I think a year before, he’s going to get drafted and that he’s actually a really good player, really good person, that he’s really working hard, can have talent to be an NBA player.”

While Jokic has already established himself as one of the NBA’s best players, Jovic’s rookie season has been about development and fine-tuning his body.

Jovic played in 15 games with the Heat this regular season, averaging 5.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. He missed 37 games in his first NBA regular season because of a back issue that he has since moved past to be available for the playoffs.

Even though there haven’t been many minutes for Jovic this postseason, simply going through a deep playoff run has been a valuable experience.

“It has been amazing,” said Jovic, who is expected to be part of the Heat’s summer league team this offseason. “Seeing guys, you can see everything totally changed. This season was not going as great for us as we thought it would. Last year, we were in first place. This year, we ended up being seventh and then eighth. But I came here and through the whole season, we knew we had something and we just couldn’t find it.

“When the playoffs started, you could see [coach Erik Spoelstra] and everybody else just locked in. This is the first time I’ve seen coach just be locked in like that and everybody is just a step ahead of our opponent. Everybody is so locked in, it’s like a completely different team.”

Game 2 of the NBA Finals does not start until 2 a.m. in Serbia, but the Finals are being broadcast there. Jovic doesn’t expect many people back home to root for him over Jokic, but he knows at least a few people who will.

“I mean, I know my family and friends will,” Jovic said with a smile. “But everybody else, I really don’t know. For sure, some are going to cheer for us and some are going to cheer for them. I mean, that’s how it goes.”

THE IN BETWEEN

How are Heat players handling the off days between pressurized NBA Finals games?

“I think it’s a balance,” Heat guard Gabe Vincent said. “I think you have to be able to step away in whatever way you relax, to relax, but also you still have a job to do. Similar to if you’re in school and you’re studying for a big test. You can’t just sit there in the book all day. You’re not going to retain as much information. You got to kind of step away and come back to it.

“There’s definitely film being watched, workouts done, treatment done, whatever the case may be. But also time that’s down away from the game or with family or watching a movie or whatever way people may relax.”

Heat star Jimmy Butler added: “Just doing normal stuff. Because at the end of the day, I’m as normal as they come. It’s not always about basketball. It will never always be about basketball. That’s how I regroup. I stay consistent in that because that’s what I know I can fall back on. My guys, they are going to love me whether I win or lose. My daughter is going to love me whether I win or lose. So that’s what I focus on.”