One of the major turning points of the Miami Heat's season was when head coach Erik Spoelstra suddenly found himself embroiled in a heated shouting match with Jimmy Butler right in the middle of a regular-season game. Tempers flared, things got out of hand, and the pair had to be restrained in order to prevent the incident from escalating.

There's no denying that it was an ugly scene and that it could have turned out much worse than it actually did. As a matter of fact, according to NBA insider Brian Windhorst of ESPN, even Butler himself feared that his actions may have led to a shocking “breaking point:”

For Butler, three seasons' worth of give-and-take with Spoelstra finally led to finding the line. It wasn't just that moment with Butler verbally shoving back at his coach; it was a long buildup.

“Spo was exasperated,” one team source said.

Even Butler, who sometimes seems to actually enjoy creating conflict on his team, wondered whether this was a breaking point, sources said. Two days later, after Spoelstra missed a game because of an unrelated personal matter, he returned, reset and ready.

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Windhorst also reports that Butler was “relieved” to get a refreshed Erik Spoelstra back following his brief hiatus. The same was the case for the rest of the team. It sounds like they were all able to put this issue to bed and start with a clean slate, so to speak.

In the end, this could have been the spark that the team needed at that point in the season. Right now, they are just seven wins away from their ultimate goal of winning the title. If they achieve this objective, then it is likely that the Heat will look back at the Butler-Spoelstra incident as a major step toward their success.