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

1. 2022 Game 7 vs Celtics

Out of all the heartbreaks listed, Game 7’s 100-96 loss against the Boston Celtics takes the cake for the defeat that hurt the most in the Jimmy Butler era. After Jimmy Butler’s 47-point masterpiece helped Miami escape Boston with a victory in Game 6, the Heat had the momentum one win away from their second NBA Finals berth in three years.

But outside of Butler and Bam Adebayo, who combined for 60 points, the rest of the team mustered up 36 points, which could have been 39 had Max Strus’ 3-pointer counted instead of infamously being ruled out of bounds in a review that took place minutes after the basket was made.

Even with the team struggling and trailing the entire game, the Heat still found a way to cut a double-digit lead down to two points after Strus hit a miraculous three over Al Horford. In the following possession, after Miami managed to force another stop, the ball ended up in the hands of arguably the best playoff performer that season, Butler, who went for the lead and came up short.

Out of all the teams during Jimmy Butler’s tenure, this version of the Heat was one of the best teams assembled around Butler. Miami had one of their best regular seasons in franchise history and earned the first seed in the Eastern Conference which was a feat that had not been accomplished since the 2012-2013 season. Miami had two all-stars that season in Adebayo and Butler and led the regular season in three-point percentage. 

With everything that transpired during the regular season along with Butler playing out of his mind in the postseason, that shot deserved to go in. Instead, it’s now in the Heat memory bank as one of the biggest what-ifs in franchise history.