Miami Heat's Erik Spoelstra Says Thursday's Win Against Charlotte Hornets Was A "Breakthrough"

Spoelstra hopes the Heat can build off the overtime victory

The four games before the Miami Heat faced the Charlotte Hornets Thursday were decided by a total of 15 points. 

After losing two straight close games, the Heat finally pulled one out in a 117-112 victory against the Hornets in overtime. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra the win could become a turning point in the season. 

"You don't always have an absolute solve and solution in this league but I think this was important for us," Spoelstra said. "You go through four straight games and I say this respectfully but in the majority of the games, three-plus quarters in the last four games, I felt like we've played than our opponent."

Despite the Hornets playing without LaMelo Ball and Gordon Hayward, Spoelstra still called the win an important step. At 5-7, the Heat have gotten off to a slow start after entering as one of the contenders in the Eastern Conference. 

"We've dropped some of these leads and you have go through all the emotions and the detail on both ends and find a way to figure it out," Spoelstra said. "I think this is an important breakthrough early on in the season, just to continue to have these kind of games and then find a way to win. I thought it was really important for us to got to OT and deal with the frustration and then have to mentally reset, emotionally reset, to play five more minutes. I thought we were very good in that overtime. We'll continue to work and get better. I saw a lot of positives."

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Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat.

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