NEW YORK _ The fury was removed from the equation, but not the fight.
Not with Dion Waiters still is there to provide the late magic.
With Hassan Whiteside benched for the fourth quarter, the Miami Heat summoned the passion that had sparked the four-game winning streak they carried into the night, storming back from an 18-point deficit for a 109-106 victory Wednesday night over the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center.
The winning streak is now five, but this was nothing like the four others, sparked instead by step-up performance from reserves Wayne Ellington, Willie Reed and Okaro White, who now is 5-0 as an NBA player.
And then, with 6.8 seconds to play, a 3-pointer by Waiters, though perhaps not as dramatic as his Monday 3-pointer that defeated the Golden State Warriors.
So even with Brook Lopez scoring 33 for the Nets and converting seven 3-pointers, and even with Whiteside finishing with seven points and one rebound, the Heat found a way.
No, this was not five the easy way.
By the opening minutes of the third quarter, Whiteside, Waiters and Luke Babbitt were yanked by coach Erik Spoelstra.
And still, victory.
Waiters led the Heat with 24 points, with Ellington adding 22 and guard Goran Dragic falling just short of a triple-double, with 17 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
Then there was Reed coming off the bench to contribute 14 points and White adding 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Heat pushed within 97-89 on a 3-pointer from Waiters midway through the fourth quarter, and then a Dragic 3-pointer with 4:51 left pulling the Heat within 99-92. From there, Dragic basket pulled the Heat within 99-94. And then a block on one end by White and a driving layup by Waiters made it 99-96 with 2:53 left.
From there, an Ellington 3-pointer tied it at 99 and Reed drew a charge on the other end, only to be called for an illegal screen on the Heat's ensuing possession and then Dragic for a travel after a Nets miss.
Caris LaVert then drew a foul on Reed with 1:14 to play, making both foul shots for a 101-99 Nets led.
But back came White with a 3-pointer for a 102-101 Heat lead and then drawing a rebounding foul on the other end. Sent to the line with 42.4 seconds left, White made both free throws for a 104-101 Heat lead.
Trevor Booker followed with an inside basket to draw the Nets within 104-103.
And then there he was again, that man, Waiters stepping up with a 3-pointer at the expiration of the shot clock with 6.8 seconds to play, for a 107-103 Heat lead.
For the Heat, Tyler Johnson (shoulder), Josh Richardson (foot), Justise Winslow (shoulder), Josh McRoberts (foot) and Chris Bosh (blood clots) remained out, with Jeremy Lin (hamstring) and Joe Harris (ankle) out for the Nets.
The Heat trailed 89-71 going into the fourth quarter. The 71 points was the second-lowest total allowed by the Nets through three periods by the Nets this season, surpassing only the 70 by the Utah Jazz on Jan. 2. It also was the Nets' second-largest lead after three periods this season, surpassed only by a 25-point lead last week in a victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Heat moved to a 10-0 point lead early in the second period only to see the Nets swarm back with a 22-5 run that fueled them to a 66-55 halftime lead.
A 3-pointer late in the second period gave Lopez his sixth of the night, setting a new personal high. He had 26 points at the intermission.
Ellington helped keep the Heat afloat with 15 first-half points on 6-of-7 shooting.
Lopez took Whiteside to the perimeter early, converted 4 of 5 3-pointers in the first seven minutes, and already had 16 points by the end of the opening period.
But with enough balance, the Heat still were able to take a 34-30 lead into the second period, with Waiters with eight points and Ellington seven in the first quarter.
The game opened the three-game season series, with the Nets making only one visit to AmericanAirlines Arena this season, on Jan. 30.
The Heat went 3-1 against the Nets last season and entered having won seven of the previous eight meetings, including their previous four visits to Barclays Center.
The game opened a two-game trip for the Heat that concludes Friday in Chicago.
The game was a reunion for Heat center Willie Reed and Ellington, who were with the Nets last season.
