Anfernee Simons rallies Celtics past Heat with historic performance off bench

Furthermore, per NBC Sports' Dick Lipe, Simons now owns the record for the most points scored by a non-starter in a road game in franchise history, surpassing Billy Knight's previous mark of 37 points in 1978.

Simons especially caught fire in the fourth quarter, scoring 18 of Boston's 36 points, including this step-back trey to put the Celtics in front, 104-102, with just under five minutes to play.

Simons has been solid all season with an average of 13.5 points per game. This month alone, he has scored at least 10 points in all but one of Boston's eight games so far, but Thursday night was by far his best performance since being traded to the Celtics prior to the season.

Until his 28 shot attempts, Simons had only taken 20 or more shots one time this season, so it is clear how instrumental he was to Boston's success and ability to pull off the thrilling comeback over the Heat (21-20).

This is just the latest example of the Celtics finding ways to overachieve and stay afloat in the Eastern Conference without All-Star forward Jayson Tatum, who continues to recover after suffering a torn right Achilles in May.

After starting the season 11-9, the Celtics are 14-6 since December and are just 4.5 games back of the East-leading Detroit Pistons (29-10) as of Thursday. The second half of the season is still in front of them and it sounds like a potential return from Tatum is not out of the question either.

Regardless of when Tatum is able to come back, the Celtics keep finding ways to win even without their star player. While his return would only increase the team's chances of contending for its second NBA title in three seasons, Simons' historic performance is a reminder that the Celtics can still have success until then.