The Miami Heat's 2023 NBA Finals run ended with a 94-89 Game 5 loss against the Denver Nuggets Monday night. It was a disappointing finish to a historic postseason for the Heat, which became the second No. 8 seed in history to reach the NBA Finals. After upsetting the Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks and Boston Celtics, the Heat simply weren't good enough to stop the runaway freight train that was Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.

The Heat should feel no shame in their 2023 NBA Finals loss against the Nuggets. Denver has the more talented team, led by the best basketball player in the world and a second star in Jamal Murray. Jimmy Butler was the best player in the Eastern Conference for six weeks. Half of Miami's rotation players weren't drafted. The odds overwhelming favored Denver at the start of the Heat-Nuggets series for good reason.

That's not to say the Heat couldn't have played better in the 2023 NBA Finals. Miami had opportunities to steal Game 4 and Game 5. Denver played one of its worst games of the playoffs in the clincher, barely hanging on to win its first-ever championship.

Let's take a look at where the blame lies most for the Heat coming up short against the Nuggets in the 2023 NBA Finals.

Jimmy Butler

Dividing up the largest slice of blame pie and feeding it to Butler does nothing to take away from his incredible playoff showing. Butler likely solidified his spot in the Hall of Fame during his postseason run. The Heat star was not expected—nor should he have been expected—to topple Jokic and the heavily favored Nuggets. He did not choke like James Harden. Nevertheless, the biggest difference between the NBA Finals and Miami's playoff series wins was Butler's performance.

In order for the Heat to beat the Nuggets in the NBA Finals, Miami needed Butler to come close to replicating his Michael Jordan impression from earlier in the playoffs. Whether it was his sprained ankle, poor decision-making or he just ran out of gas—it was likely a combination of all three—the Playoff Jimmy Butler who wowed the basketball world was nowhere to be found. 

Butler's averages of 21.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 41.3% shooting against Denver were his worst marks for any series in the 2023 playoffs. The Nuggets limited Butler to 13 points on 14 field-goal attempts in Game 1. In Game 5, Butler's 21 points on 5-of-18 shooting were bolstered by a nine-point flurry between the 4:29 mark and the 3:21 mark in the fourth quarter. The aggression that Butler showcased earlier in the postseason arrived too little too late in the NBA Finals. It was capped off by an errant pass and an ill-advised 3-point attempt in the final 27 seconds that sealed the Heat's fate.

At worst, Miami needed Butler to be the second-best player in the series. He arguably finished fourth behind Jokic, Murray and Bam Adebayo. Butler refused to make any excuses in the Game 5 post-game press conference. He had to be better to give the Heat a chance.

Caleb Martin

Caleb Martin's fall from near-Eastern Conference Final MVP to shaky role player was somewhat predictable. Another one of Miami's undrafted gems had his best stretch as an NBA player in seven games against the Celtics, averaging 19.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game while making 60.2% of his field goals. Martin didn't average more than 11.2 points in the first two series, and he crashed back down to earth in the NBA Finals.

Martin's 7.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game against the Nuggets were all personal lows for the small forward this postseason. His hot shooting hand went ice cold. Martin shot 37.5% from the field and 33.3% from 3-point range. He had more shot attempts than points. After making two or more 3-pointers in all seven games against the Celtics, Martin topped out at a pair of threes in NBA Finals Game 3.

Miami couldn't have asked for Martin to have another out-of-body experience and look like an All-NBA player for a second straight series. How about matching his production from the first two rounds or even one scoring outburst that might help extend the series? Martin didn't do either. He was consistently below average, never scoring more than 11 points in any game. Martin was held to exactly three points in Game 1 and Game 2.

Gabe Vincent started the series strong, totaling 42 points in the first two games. Kyle Lowry saved his best basketball for the end of the NBA Finals, going for 13 points and seven assists in Game 4 before being a plus-5 in 34 minutes off the bench in Game 5. Had Martin been able to have a similar stretch during the series, the Heat might've been able to push the Nuggets to a Game 6.