Ranking the 5 most heartbreaking Heat losses of the Jimmy Butler Era
2. 2023 Game 6 vs Celtics
As opposed to the other games listed where the Heat ended up losing the series, it’s fair to admit that Heat Nation was at one of their lowest points after Derrick White’s buzzer-beating putback led to a 104-103 defeat to the Boston Celtics in Game 6 and forced a Game 7 after the Heat were up 3-0.
After Marcus Smart’s “don’t let us win one” quote going into Game 4, the Celtics ended up winning the next two games by double digits in convincing fashion setting up a pivotal Game 6 back in Miami. The Heat appeared to be facing the same fate in Game 6 with the Celtics up by nine with under three minutes to go.
But in the blink of an eye, Jimmy Butler caught fire and sunk a corner three over Marcus Smart while also converting an and-1 by finishing a tough layup over Al Horford. With the Heat now trailing by two with 16.9 seconds to go, Jimmy Butler went to the same corner he made his 3-pointer in, and with three seconds left, he drew a shooting foul on Al Horford.
It seemed as if history was going to rewrite itself in favor of the Heat, with Butler sinking three free throws to give Miami a one-point lead and needing a defensive stop to advance to the NBA Finals.
Miami denied Jayson Tatum hard and sent Max Strus to chase him along with Butler, ignoring Derrick White who was inbounding the ball. The ball ended up in Smart’s hands, who hoisted a heavily challenged 3-pointer, a shot the Heat would live with anytime. Instead of missing badly, the ball went in and out of the basket and fell right into the hands of White, who was unchallenged at the rim as Strus was assigned with face-guarding Tatum.
Only three teams in the NBA have forced a Game 7 after trailing 3-0. But in this instance, the Celtics were the first team to host a Game 7 after forcing a comeback. Leading up to Game 7, there was nonstop mention of a Boston team repeating history as the Boston Red Sox completed a 3-0 comeback over the New York Yankees in 2004.
The Heat’s Game 6 loss had Heat fans panicking as Miami was facing a doomsday scenario by potentially being the first team in NBA history to blow a 3-0 lead. Thankfully, the Heat avoided making history in the wrong way and dominated the Boston Celtics in Game 7 103-84 to advance to their second NBA Finals in four years.