Ranking the 5 most heartbreaking Heat losses of the Jimmy Butler Era

Since Jimmy Butler joined the Miami Heat in 2019, the goal was and still is to contend and bring a championship back to the 305. There have been a lot of great memories made during their title pursuit, but there has also been a lot of heartbreak and disappointment in those five seasons.

Let's take a look at the five most painful losses in the Butler era.

5. 2020 Game 4 vs Lakers

After Jimmy Butler’s historic triple-double led Miami to an improbable Game 3 victory with no Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic, the Heat entered Game 4 with a boost with Adebayo returning to the starting five after missing the previous two games. Miami found themselves in a tight game, but multiple missed opportunities in the clutch led to a 102-96 defeat and put the Heat in a 3-1 hole. 

With 3:06 left to play down 90-88, Jimmy Butler received a screen from Adebayo and found himself wide-open for three with a chance to take the lead. The shot was off, and out of all the players to hit the Heat with multiple daggers, it was Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who hit a three and a layup on back-to-back possessions to boost the Lakers lead to seven. Shortly after, Anthony Davis hit a dagger three to give Los Angeles a 100-91 lead with under a minute left.

Even with the key injuries on the roster, Miami had a great chance to flip the series on its head and even the series up against the best version of the LeBron James Lakers. The Heat closed out multiple close games throughout their 2020 playoff run and did so in the following game with Butler and Duncan Robinson going nuclear. Unfortunately, the one game the Heat failed to execute in the clutch burned them the most.