Paul Pierce, welcome back. Rajon Rondo, it's like you never left.

The duo bounced back from injuries Wednesday night in Miami to pull off one of the most dramatic plays of the season as the Celtics defeated the Heat, 112-106, in overtime.

Pierce had missed the last five games with a right knee infection and Rondo had been sidelined for a game with strained left hamstring. Neither showed any signs of weakness in their returns. Rather, they were the centerpieces of five seconds that changed 48 minutes of basketball.

Fast forward to the final moments of regulation. After blowing the lead and falling behind by 11 in the fourth quarter, the Celtics had fought back to a 99-99 tie with five seconds to go. Dwyane Wade stole the ball from Ray Allen at halfcourt and went in for a dunk that seemed likely to be a game-winner. The Celtics had just 0.6 seconds left to pull off something special.

Then came “the play.” From in front of the Heat bench, Pierce lobbed an inbound pass to Rondo, who caught the ball in mid-air and laid it in as time expired. (Rondo told reporters after the game that he did not want to risk a dunk on such a critical shot.)

The bucket forced overtime, when Rondo took over and led the Celtics to victory. Rondo finished the game with 25 points and eight assists, while Pierce contributed 17 points, six rebounds, and five assists.

There's no question Rondo and Pierce are back. Here are three other things we learned from this game:

THE GAME WAS NOT OVER

It was less than two weeks ago when coach Doc Rivers found himself frustrated with the Celtics' lack of execution. They had blown a lead against the Clippers and got burned by a buzzer-beating shot from Baron Davis.

“We just didn't play like a veteran basketball team tonight, and I thought it was more composure than anything else,” Rivers said after the Dec. 27 loss, adding, “That's all I told the guys, is we're a better team than that with composure down the stretch.”

On Wednesday, that veteran team showed up.

Rather than get frazzled by their double-digit deficit, the Celtics slowly chipped away at the Heat's lead. They contested the Heat's shots (Miami shot 40-for-98 on the night), drew fouls, zoned in on offense (Ray Allen came through with clutch treys and free throws) and attacked the boards.

While Rivers has continually stressed the importance of composure to his team, he credited assistant coach Kevin Eastman for keeping the Celtics focused when it mattered. After the C's stayed collected long enough to forge a comeback, Eastman made sure they never gave up, even when they were less than one second away from defeat.

His message was heard loud and clear.

“In the timeout, you could see all the guys were dejected,” Rivers said. “I had to drag them to get them to the timeout, they thought the game was over. Kevin Eastman kept yelling, 'Guys, the game is not over. We've got to play. The game is not over.'

“So it was great that they believed that.”

ANOTHER TESTAMENT TO PERKINS

Kendrick Perkins didn't do anything flashy. He wasn't part of a show-stopping lob and he didn't drain jaw-dropping 3's like his teammates. He simply played solid basketball that should not be overlooked.

Perkins actually led the team in scoring for most of the first half. It was easy to overlook, since Rondo and Ray Allen finished with more points, but it's a testament to Perkins' performance through the first two quarters.

He entered halftime with a team-leading 17 points, four rebounds and two assists. Perkins finished the night with 20 points, 10 boards, and three dimes. He drew just two fouls in 41 minutes of play

This game has more significance than just an impressive stat line — he did this against Jermaine O'Neal. While O'Neal does not pose the same threat as, let's say, Dwight Howard, he still is a veteran big man who can challenge Perkins with his inside-outside game and rebounding abilities.

One of Perkins' biggest contributions was quickly getting O'Neal into foul trouble. (Perkins shot 6-for-9 from the free throw line.) The Celtics gained an early advantage with Joel Anthony on the floor for O'Neal, allowing Perkins to go to work at the basket. Perkins also played tough defense — O'Neal shot 47 percent from the field compared to Perkins' 70 percent — and never allowed him to get to the line.

It is easy for Perkins to get overshadowed by his teammates' flashy plays, but he certainly stood out against O'Neal.

SHEED KEEPS HIS COOL

With 10 minutes to go in regulation, Rasheed Wallace checked into the game with four personal fouls. The Celtics were trying to dig themselves out of a hole, and composure was of the utmost importance.

Wallace played one, two, three, four, nearly five minutes of foul-free basketball as the Celtics fought back. Even after being called for his fifth foul with 4:59 left, he did not let the possibility of a sixth restrict him. Wallace added a dunk, a game-tying 3-pointer, and two rebounds over the next four minutes as the Celtics took the lead.

Wallace was fighting for a rebound with Udonis Haslem when the whistle blew. He was done for the night and he did not agree with the call. This set up one of the most critical moments of the fourth quarter.

If Wallace argued the call, he could have been T'd up. That would have put the Heat at the line in a close game, plus put Wallace one step closer to a suspension. Aware of this, the Boston bench immediately snapped into action.

“I gave the MVP, I told all the guys, to the bench when Rasheed fouled out,” Rivers said. “They all grabbed him and dragged him off the floor. I thought that might have been the most important play of the game because a tech was coming soon. I've never seen Scal [Brian Scalabrine] and J.R. [Giddens] and Billy [Walker] [do that], I thought that was terrific.”