Miami Heat coach trusted Jaime Jaquez Jr in crunch time for this one reason

12.8 seconds on the clock, Heat down 2 with the ball. Erik Spoelstra looking for an offensive miracle to send this game to overtime, or better yet win it with a three against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night.

Hot offensive nights for Norman Powell and Andrew Wiggins, yet Spo draws the play up for Jaime Jaquez Jr, who catches in space, attacks downhill to the middle of the floor, and converts on a wild spinning push shot in the middle of the floor that eventually sent this insane game to overtime.

The glorious bucket that sent us into OT pic.twitter.com/xQsPYRICwX
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) November 11, 2025

Another 22 point night is a strong showing in itself, but this trust that Erik Spoelstra is building for this third year player who is in a junior year resurgence is big time.

Coach Spo confirmed that this play-call was for Jaquez the entire way, adding "It felt like he was going to create something, some kind of action."

"But the trust level is really more about the times if he does get stuck, everybody's gaining more trust that 'okay you cut me off, I know where my spacing is, I'll make the right play.'"

I talked to Spo last night about calling the play for Jaquez to send it to OT

I followed up with why he trusts him in that spot:

“The trust level is really more about the times if he does get stuck, everybody’s gaining more trust that [he can make that pass out of a double]” pic.twitter.com/TOB2vQBd4b
— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) November 11, 2025

Jaquez Jr's biggest improvement this season has been his play-making ability. Not just the assist number jumping up from 2.5 a night all the way to 5.2 a game, but his reads are so advanced that he knows when to just make the right basketball play.

"He doesn't need to get 20 assists," Coach Spo said on his passing. "But if he can get 4-5-6-7 assists, that's only going to help him with his attacks."

That is simply Erik Spoelstra saying that he's not going to Jaquez in crunch time just because he's a good scorer. A lot of guys can score on this roster. He did it because he trusts that Jaquez is advancing to a level of seeing the floor and reading the defense at a high level.

If that second defender blitzes him on his spin in the lane, it's either an easy kick-out to an open Powell or Wiggins, or even a lob back-door to Kel'el Ware in the dunker spot.

"I watched a lot of film this past summer to figure out what I was doing right, what I was doing wrong, how I can improve," Jaime Jaquez Jr said on Spo's comments about the trust level late.

But Jaquez seems to think it's not just him making a passing jump, it's the roster around him enhancing it. "It's really great with this offense, I got a lot of guys moving so there's a lot of targets for me to hit. So when you add that all together, it ends up making the reads a lot easier for me to make."

The system has been simple for Jaquez. Catch the ball on the deep wing, attack one-on-one in isolation without a screen, and try to get to the middle of the floor. It's either a layup, a push shot in the lane, or a simple kick-out to whoever helps down with Jaquez's recent interior gravity.

Nobody has benefitted more from this revamped offense than Jaime Jaquez Jr. And now the rest of the roster is benefitting from Jaquez Jr's individual success.