Every NBA Playoff Buzzer Beater Which Involved Jimmy Butler

Derrick White drove a dagger into the hearts of Jimmy Butler's Miami Heat when he tipped in the game winner at the buzzer in Game 6 of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals. White's shot sent the series to a Game 7 at the TD Garden, where the Boston Celtics will attempt to complete the most improbable comeback in NBA history.

With momentum and home court advantage, the Celtics will be the heavy favorites to finish off the job on Monday. Considering that out of the 147 Game 7s in league history, the home team has won over 75% of the time. The Miami Heat will certainly have their work cut out for them.

Heat's chances in Game 7 will depend largely on the performance of Jimmy Butler. Butler, who had a disastrous night through the first three quarters of Game 6, turned it on in the fourth and scored the last 13 points for his team. This included three clutch free throws to put his team up by one before White's heroics sank them.

Butler is no stranger to NBA playoff buzzer beaters. In fact, this was the sixth instance of a buzzer beater being scored in a playoff game which Jimmy Butler played in.

Here are the five other instances of NBA playoff buzzer beaters involving Jimmy Butler.

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#1. Jerryd Bayless: Game 4 of the 2015 Eastern Conference First Round

The #3 seed Chicago Bulls entered Game 4 of their first round matchup against the #6 seed Milwaukee Bucks with a 3-0 lead. The Bucks led by as many as eight points in the fourth quarter. Clutch plays down the stretch by Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler, and Pau Gasol tied the game at 90-90 with under a minute to go.

The Bulls had an opportunity to take the last shot, but Rose lost his dribble and had the ball stolen from him. The Bucks called a timeout with 1.3 seconds left on the clock and advanced the ball. In circumstances similar to what happened in Game 6 on Saturday, the Bulls defense was caught sleeping leading to an easy shot for Jerryd Bayless under the basket.

Their defensive lapse didn't end up costing them as they were able to eventually close out the series in six games in a 120-66 blowout.

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#2. Derrick Rose: Game 3 of the 2015 Eastern Conference Semifinals

In the next round, Jimmy Butler and the Chicago Bulls faced off against the #2 seed Cleveland Cavaliers. With the series tied at 1-1, the Cavaliers found themselved trailing by three points with the shot clock turned off. JR Smith made a clutch three to even the score at 96-96 with 10 seconds left in the game.

LeBron James poked the ball out of bounds from Derrick Rose's hands, and the Bulls called a timeout with three seconds left. Mike Dunleavy inbounded the ball to Rose, who banked in a 3-pointer over Tristan Thompson to put the Bulls up 2-1 in the series.

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#3. LeBron James: Game 4 of the 2015 Eastern Conference Semifinals

In the very next game, the Bulls found themselves trailing by five points with under 30 seconds left when Jimmy Butler made a clutch three to close the gap to two. The Bulls proceeded to play lockdown defense to force the Cavaliers to burn all their timeouts.

Having used all their timeouts, James Jones was forced to throw a cross court inbounds pass to LeBron James. James was immediately swarmed by two Bulls defenders, who forced him into an offensive foul and a turnover. Down by two, Derrick Rose drove into an open lane and made the layup at the rim to tie the game at 84-84 with 8.4 seconds left.

The Cavaliers couldn't advance the ball since they had no timeouts left. LeBron James drove the length of the court but had the ball knocked away from his hands with 1.5 seconds left. Matthew Delladova inbounded the ball to LeBron James on the near corner, who sank a clutch 21-foot jumper over Jimmy Butler to tie the series at 2-2.

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#4. Kawhi Leonard: Game 7 of the 2019 Eastern Conference Semifinals

In a two-week span in 2015, Jimmy Butler had been involved in three game winning buzzer beaters in the NBA playoffs. It would be another four years before the next one. Meanwhile, Butler had left Chicago and joined up with Joel Embiid in Philadelphia after a brief stint in Minnesota.

The 2019 Eastern Conference Semifinals between the #3 seed Philadelphia 76ers and the #2 seed Toronto Raptors was a closely fought affair. With the Raptors up by one point in Game 7 with 10.8 seconds left, the Sixers fouled Leonard and sent him to the line. Leonard missed his second free throw, and the ball ended up in Tobias Harris' hand. Harris passed the ball to Jimmy Butler, who drove to the rim on the fast break and made a layup to tie the game, 90-90.

With 4.2 seconds left, the Raptors inbounded the ball to Leonard, who ran off to the far side corner and threw up a shot over Embiid. The ball bounced around the rim four times before finally falling in to end the Sixers' season.

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#5. Jimmy Butler: Game 2 of the 2020 Eastern Conference Semifinals

Even though Jimmy Butler had been involved in four buzzer beaters in the NBA playoffs, he had never made one of his own. That changed in Game 2 of the 2020 Eastern Conference Semifinals. In his first year in Miami, Butler and the Heat found themselves up against the #1 seed Milwaukee Bucks in the second round.

In Game 2, the Heat had a 114-111 lead when a controversial foul was called on a Khris Middleton 3-point attempt. Middleton hit all three free throws to tie the game, 114-114. The Heat called a timeout and advanced the ball. The ball was inbounded to Jimmy Butler, who threw up a fadeaway over a double team.

The shot didn't go in, and the game seemed to be going to overtime. But a foul was called on Butler's shot on the help defender Giannis Antetokounmpo. With the clock turned off, Butler had to make one of his two free throws to avoid overtime and put his team up 2-0 in the series. He proceeded to do exactly that by sinking both of his free throws. This one might not be a buzzer beater in the traditional sense of the term, but it still counts officially.

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Last year, in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat, Jimmy Butler had an opportunity to potentially go for a series-clinching buzzer beater. However, he forced up an early shot and missed, which ultimately proved to be costly. The Celtics ended up winning the game, 100-96, and clinched a finals berth.

Will Butler have an opportunity to add to his playoff heroics with another buzzer beater on Monday? Or will he be at the receiving end of an unprecedented 5th playoff buzzer beater in his NBA career? Only time will tell.