How the Heat brought the Celtics back to Earth

The Boston Celtics hadn't tasted defeat since Oct. 18, but the Miami Heat pressured them early in Wednesday's game and didn't relinquish the lead, ending Boston's win streak at 16 games with a 104-98 victory.

Now at 8-9, the Heat gave their most consistent effort of the season against the red-hot Celtics - here's how they did it:

Goran the Dragon

Goran Dragic never really gets the love he deserves. But on Wednesday, the Heat went ahead early thanks to Dragic putting the team on his back and keeping the Celtics' defense honest. He scored 20 points in the first half, and finished with a game-high 27 on 8-of-17 shooting.

When the Heat ran their offense through Dragic, possessions were more fluid. He's the only traditional point guard on the roster, and when he sits, the scoring plummets (the Heat's offensive rating is six points worse with Dragic on the bench).

Dragic is most valuable when he's able to run the break and get to the rim. He's one of the best finishing guards in the league, and was able to do so tonight against the stingy Celtics' defense.

Two-faced Dion

The inconsistencies of Dion Waiters have been almost painful to watch this season. However, he's been solid late in games. In typical Waiters fashion, he closed Wednesday's contest when the Celtics got too close for comfort, scoring eight of his 26 points with less than three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Prior to that point, Waiters was 8-of-18 from the field, but he hit three of his final six shots, including two threes. It's been a pattern for Waiters this year, as his field-goal percentage always seems to get better in those last few minutes.

Overall, it's been a rough start to the year for Waiters, but he lives for moments like this:

Defense on fire

Miami played arguably its best defensive game of the season, holding the Celtics to 63 points through the first three quarters. Josh Richardson continued to play suffocating defense - as he has all season long - slowing down Kyrie Irving throughout the night.

Meanwhile, Hassan Whiteside made the game easy for his teammates on the defensive end. Any time Irving even threatened to drive, the rotations were there and the entire Heat team was able to take risks knowing one of the best rim-protectors in the league was behind them.

The defensive MVP of the contest, however, goes to Kelly Olynyk, who was surprisingly everywhere on this night. His play off the bench was tremendous for Miami, as he finished with a plus-17 rating for the game. He added six points and six rebounds in 20 minutes.