For any opponent of the Miami Heat, the biggest task is stopping Dwyane Wade. He is capable of going off for 25, 30, even 40 points on any given night and can single-handedly win games.

Yet despite scoring 27 points against the Celtics on Sunday, Wade seemed to have a quiet game. He was the evening's highest scorer, but he wasn't a game-changer. Wade missed 12 of his 23 shot attempts while the Celtics were powered by a star of their own who was nearly perfect.

On a night when the Celtics made 52 percent of their shots and held the Heat to 42 percent from the floor, Boston claimed a 92-85 win in Miami in an impressive first stop on a four-game road trip. (Recap.)

Here are three things we learned along the way:

'KEVIN'S COMING'

Friday night's 6-for-6 shooting performance against the Raptors was impressive.

Sunday's was better.

Kevin Garnett shot 11-for-12 from the field to lead the Celtics with 24 points. He settled into his deadly mid-range zone and fired away over the Heat defenders.

“You can see it, Kevin's coming,” Doc Rivers told reporters following the game.

It was impossible to expect Garnett's return from knee surgery to be seamless. He was not going to be perfect in training camp. He still is not going to be perfect heading into December. (Garnett entered Sunday's game averaging 13.5 points, his lowest average since his rookie year.)

But he is showing progress. Garnett has noticeably more arc on his release and more lift in his jumper, and he has been able to elevate more toward the basket in recent games.

Following his game-winning shot against the Knicks last Sunday, Garnett got to the line 12 times against the 76ers, did not miss a single shot against the Raptors and fell two points shy of his season high against the Heat.

The Celtics are not looking for Garnett to explode for 24 points every game — that was never his role on this team. But it is performances such as this that show progress and an optimistic outlook at what he will be able to do late in the season.

“You can see it,” Rivers said. “Again, I just think it's going to continue to be small steps.”

RONDO HAS MANY INSTRUMENTS TO ORCHESTRATE A VICTORY

There were points when Rajon Rondo seemed to have this game in the palm of his hand.

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Rondo had been restricted with two quick fouls in the first quarter. Then he checked back in during the second quarter and reclaimed the first half for the Celtics. In just over three minutes, he tied up the game with a 3-pointer, hit a go-ahead jumper and dished assists on two consecutive possessions. The Celtics had a seven-point lead at halftime.

Fast forward to the fourth quarter. The Celtics had their lead and were getting outplayed by Michael Beasley. The sophomore was hitting long-range shots, scoring at the basket and attacking the rim. Like Rondo had done in the second quarter, Beasley was changing the game for the Heat in the fourth. That's when Rondo stepped in on defense.

“I thought Beasley was getting a lot of it off of the pick-and-roll. Our bigs had to stay and help and Beasley got free,” Rivers said. “Rondo was getting over the picks when he came in and it allowed our bigs to keep a body on Beasley.”

While helping to stop Beasley, who scored 18 points, Rondo began propelling the Celtics offense. He passed up his own shot and found Brian Scalabrine for a trey to cut the Celtics' deficit from four points to two. Rondo hit a pair of driving layups that tied the game at 76 before finding his teammates to secure the win. He dealt four assists in less than four minutes to put the Celtics on top.

“Rondo tonight, I thought, just his pace, he was a great leader on the floor and he made great decisions,” Rivers told reporters.

Rondo finished the game with 13 points and 11 assists. It was his 10th performance with 10 or more assists this season.

SHEED WOULD RATHER NOT OPEN HIS WALLET FOR THE LEAGUE

Rasheed Wallace was whistled for his league-high seventh technical foul of the season during the first quarter. That call, though, is the least of his concerns right now. Wallace was fined $30,000 for criticizing officials following the Celtics win over the Raptors on Friday.

“Oh, I'm definitely going to appeal that. What did I say wrong?" he told reporters on Sunday before cutting himself off.

The NBA issued the fine after Wallace expressed his disagreement with several calls, including the whistle against him for fouling Hedo Turkoglu. Wallace believed Turkoglu flopped, and he did not mix words.

“They've got to know that he’s a damn flopper,” Wallace said on Friday. “That’s all Turkododo do. Flopping shouldn’t get you nowhere. He acts like I shot him.”

He went on to defend Paul Pierce's dunk over Chris Bosh, after which Pierce was issued a technical for taunting.

“This game is watered down, watered down with all that flopping [stuff],” Wallace said. “They’re setting rules on us to the point where you’re taunting if you dunk on somebody. Paul dunked it and then he didn’t say nothing, but it’s a tech ... Let the Golden Child do that or one of the NBA Without Border kids do that, it’s all fine and dandy.”

Wallace is the only player in the NBA with seven technicals. Kendrick Perkins, Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard each have been whistled for five.