Five-time NBA champion Steve Kerr has insisted that the Miami Heat will not reach the finals for the fourth consecutive season.

The Heat have qualified for the three previous finals winning the last two, but Kerr believes that they will fall at an earlier hurdle this season.

"There's a reason these teams don't do it," Kerr told the Los Angeles Times. "Emotionally, it's just exhausting to keep doing it year after year, particularly when you have to deal with everything Miami has to deal with on a daily basis, just the constant critiquing and scrutiny on the team, and then you factor in the injuries with Wade and Bosh and their health.

"I don't think Miami will get out of the East this year."

The Los Angeles Lakers were the last team to win three titles in a row between 2000 and 2002.