It looks like Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler couldn't escape the playoff curse that has been following him throughout his career.
To recall, the Heat had a chance to send the Boston Celtics out of the playoffs in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Saturday. Butler put them in front, 103-102, with three seconds left in the contest and all they had to do was stop the C's from scoring. When they thought they did just that after Marcus Smart missed his triple, Derrick White broke their hearts when the veteran guard quickly grabbed the rebound and tipped the ball in for the win at the buzzer.
With that, the Celtics survived, erased the Heat's 3-0 series deficit, and forced a Game 7.
Now, it's worth noting that there have been six game-winning buzzer-beaters in an elimination game in NBA playoffs history. With Saturday's defeat, Butler has now been on the losing end of three of those, per ClutchPoints Twitter.
One of the most famous moments of such instance, of course, was Kawhi Leonard's buzzer-beater for the Toronto Raptors against the Philadelphia 76ers back in the second round of the 2019 playoffs. Butler was a member of the Sixers at the time.
There are 6 game-winning buzzer-beaters when facing elimination in NBA history.
Jimmy Butler was on the losing end of 3 of them 😬pic.twitter.com/W7vPhaiDil
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) May 28, 2023
It remains to be seen if the latest loss will end up destroying Jimmy Butler and the Heat's overall morale. It was just a deflating defeat, and making matters worse, Miami was really close to winning.
If there's someone fans should never count out, though, it's Butler and his tough Heat team.
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