Heat's Jaime Jaquez Jr. cites Mexico City game as reason for recent absence

11/08/2024 04:38 PM

As the Miami Heat face the Denver Nuggets Friday night, they have been without star Jaime Jaquez Jr. as he was dealing with a stomach illness. The last game he played was his homecoming in Mexico when the Heat beat the Washington Wizards, but he has missed the past two games with what was listed as gastroenteritis.

However, he has now returned to the team for Friday against the Nuggets, but he is still questionable as this time around, it’s for “Return to Competition Conditioning.” Jaquez would reveal that he got the stomach ailment in Mexico as he said that food he ate at a store “didn’t sit well” with him, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.

"I think I had a little stomach flu, stomach virus, something of that sort and I felt it coming back from Mexico," Jaquez said after shoot around Friday morning. "I ate something from a store, it didn't sit well with me. So for the past couple days, I've been dealing with that. But I'm feeling a lot better now. So I decided to come back and join the team. Here I am."

Heat’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. trusts staff to get his conditioning right 

While there is no doubt that Jaquez is a major part of an ignitable Heat bench, he still has to get back to basketball conditioning even though he is fully healthy. Jaquez puts his faith in Miami’s training staff, so once he gets back, he will be better than ever.

"I think the staff does such a great job of making sure us as players are in the best possible shape to return to play," Jaquez said. "So I just trust in their process and whatever they believe in. They're the professionals. I try to communicate with them to the best of what I'm feeling and go from there."

Since his absence, the team has lost two straight contests against the Sacramento Kings and the first outing in the current six-game road trip against the Phoenix Suns. Both were close games where they fell apart in the second half, a continuation of the trend of the Heat playing poorly in the third quarter.

Entering his second season in the league, Jaquez impressed in his rookie year, when he was honored in back-to-back months being Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month along with making the NBA’s All-Rookie first team.

Heat’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. expresses frustration in missing past two games

Jaquez is eager to get back on the floor as he expressed the frustration of witnessing the losses from his home.

"It's definitely frustrating not being out there playing with my guys," Jaquez said. "But being a spectator gives you a new perspective on the team. I can come back and share what I see from an outside perspective. Not being there, just looking at the game from afar. So just trying to bring that perspective, talking to the coaches, give input on what I saw and things that we can do better and things I feel like here's a spot I could have been in. Honestly, just happy to be back with the guys."

The schedule does not get any easier as they face the Nuggets in what will be a 2023 NBA Finals rematch where the opponent won the championship in five games. Even with the schedule ahead, Miami needs as much firepower as possible, so they are hoping to get Jaquez back sooner rather than late,r as head coach Erik Spoelstra said the UCLA product is progressing well.

"He looks good," Spoelstra said after shoot around via The Miami Herald. "He's got to regain some strength. But it definitely is good to have him back in the mix."

At any rate, the Heat are 3-4 and look to gain some momentum by breaking their two game-skid against Denver to prepare for the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night.

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