The Miami Heat’s NBA Finals run gave fans everything but a championship

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The boats will always burn: remembering the 2022 Miami Heat playoff run

They ran out of gas at the end.

Despite making the NBA Finals for the second time in four years, the Miami Heat couldn’t get it done in the 2023 NBA Finals. The Nuggets were too much—too big, too smart, too athletic for a Heat team that gave everything they had to get to that point.

However, this run by the Heat will be remembered, both within the walls of the Kaseya Center and on the outside. Miami was the first 8-seed to make the Finals since the New York Knicks in 1999, and the first team to come out of the play-in tournament to go on a deep run. The odds of making this run were improbable to say the least, and yet the Heat were able to reach this point again after an up and down regular season.

In doing so, the Heat also took out three of their biggest rivals on this run: first, a monumental upset of the Milwaukee Bucks, defeating the 1-seed in five games on the back of a masterful Jimmy Butler performance. Butler’s play in the Finals left a lot to be desired, but don’t forget about his insane stretch of play that got them past Milwaukee. In the Bucks series, Butler averaged almost 38 points per game, six rebounds and five assists while being defended by Jrue Holiday. His 56-point masterclass performance in Game 4 will go down as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, single game performance in Heat history.

After the Bucks series though, Butler had a lot of help from the supporting cast of the Miami Heat, a group that yes, was undrafted (networks would let you know every time Gabe Vincent made a shot that he was undrafted) but battle tested, most of these undrafted players being with the Heat since the Bubble, where they went to the Finals. Caleb Martin led the way in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Celtics, where the Heat exorcised last year’s demons by taking out their rivals on their home floor.

As a Heat fan, I’m honestly a mix of a lot of emotions. Angry because of how Game 5 played out. Remember when I said Butler’s play left a lot to be desired? 21 points on 5-18 shooting in an elimination game definitely won’t cut it, especially when the team needed his scoring the most. Butler won’t make excuses, or say anything about his possibly injured ankle, so I won’t do any of that. He played poorly, and he knows it. In a game they lost by five, they needed their star, and he couldn’t get them over the top.

On top of being angry about Game 5, I’m honestly kinda sad. Sad I won’t get to see more battles between Nikola Jokic and Bam Adebayo. Adebayo, coming off of an uneven Celtics series, was at most points the best player on the floor for Miami. Miami’s defense did all they could to stop Jokic and Denver, slowing their points per 100 possessions down to league average, per Tom Habestroh, and a lot of that was due to Adebayo.

I’m also sad because we’ll more than likely never see this iteration of the Miami Heat again. Butler said it best after the game, this group deserved a shot at the Finals. Gabe Vincent and Max Strus will both be free agents this offseason, and with Miami pushing the cap, it’s not a sure thing that they both return. Vincent had a terrific playoff run, one that’ll get him paid by another team. With rumors swirling about a Damian Lillard trade, this version of the Heat might be over, and if it is, then it was a hell of a run. A run that saw them make the Conference Finals three out of four times, winning the conference twice, with guys that nobody but Miami wanted.

Despite the rough ending, salute to the Miami Heat for one of the greatest playoff runs we’ve seen, one that might only be topped by the team they just lost to. The boats will always be burning.