After leading his team in scoring in the first half against the Hornets, rookie Jaime Jacques Jr. suffered an injury and did not return for the second half of the game against the Miami Heat.
MIAMI — After scoring 15 points in 15 minutes in the first half, Mexican-American Jaime Jacques Jr. left the Miami Heat's game against the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night with a strain in his left groin.
Jacques Jr. left the Hornets game after leading his team in points in the first two quarters, the team said on social media.
The Heat guard will not travel for a two-game road trip starting Monday at the Brooklyn Nets and continuing Wednesday at the Toronto Raptors.
#CHAvsMIA INJURY UPDATE: Jaime Jacques, Jr. left tonight's game against the Hornets with a strained left groin. He will not return.
— Miami Heat (@MiamiHEAT) January 15, 2024
Jacques Jr. suffered a similar injury before the start of the season, but he didn't believe it was as serious.
“It started to slowly get worse during the game,” Jacques Jr. said. “I don't think it's that serious, but we're looking at a lot of preventative measures right now.”
Playing as the starter, Jacques Jr. hit 7 of his 11 shots at the basket, had five rebounds, two assists and one steal. He had no three-point shots and hit his only penalty shot of the game.
Jacques Jr. has had one of the best performances of the season and has already been nominated for Rookie of the Month. In 38 games, he averaged 30.6 minutes and 14 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game, while shooting 51% with 0.7 steals.
In the end, the Heat defeated the Hornets 104-87.
:quality(85)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/RXQIEWU4IRFFNCNA2TGX7DKSEE)