BOSTON — So what if this is who the Miami Heat are, or at least can be, in the post-Jimmy Butler era?

What if the 10-game losing streak was, as coach Erik Spoelstra insisted, a period of discovery?

What if from the depths of the play-in round there can be yet another postseason breakout?

Why those questions now?

Because now there has been a statement victory, one against Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics.

Wednesday night the winning streak reached six with a 124-103 victory at TD Garden, a statement win even if the Celtics were without Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford.

This wasn’t wiping the floor with the lottery-bound Charlotte Hornets, Philadelphia 76ers or Washington Wizards during this streak. This wasn’t last week pushing past the perennially play-in Atlanta Hawks. This wasn’t last week beating a Golden State Warriors roster lacking Stephen Curry.

This was beating Boston with both of its best present.

So, yes, it just might be getting real, even if the standings say otherwise.

This was not only Tyler Herro with 25 points, nine assists and six rebounds. It wasn’t just Bam Adebayo with 21 points, six assists and five rebounds.

This was Spoelstra’s team playing eight and getting the best from all eight, including 19 points from Kyle Anderson and 16 from Pelle Larsson.

For the Celtics, there were 24 points from Brown but only 16 from Tatum, who struggled to 4-of-17 shooting, largely against the defense of Larsson.

So, at 56-20, the Celtics move on to better days. But at 35-41, the Heat slowly are creating better days of their own.

Five Degrees of Heat from Wednesday night’s game:

— 1. Closing time: The Heat led 29-22 after the first period and 59-45 at halftime.

A wild third quarter followed, with the Heat pushing their lead to 22, the Celtics rallying within three, with the Heat then pushing back to a 91-81 lead entering the fourth.

The Celtics then made it a five-point game early in the fourth, before the Heat pushed to a 15-point lead midway through the final period.

From there, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla hoisted the white flag with 5:02 to play, pulling Tatum, Brown and Derrick White with his team down 111-96.

— 2. Adjustments required: Not only were the Heat shorthanded, but they then were forced to shuffle their rotation when Adebayo was forced to the bench with his second foul with 5:37 left in the opening period.

Spoelstra unsuccessfully challenged that second Adebayo foul, left without a challenge the balance of the night.

But even with the game opening a back-to-back set, Spoelstra kept the rotation tight, with an eight-player first-half rotation until it was decided, with Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Terry Rozier out of the mix.

— 3. Supporting cast: The rotation might have been tight, but it also was efficient, with contributions across the board.

Included in those efforts was rookie second-round pick Larsson helping stifle Tatum to a 1 of 10 start, Anderson providing relief points, Davion Mitchell continuing with his unexpected 3-point contributions and Haywood Highsmith contributing defense and hustle.

— 4. Dual shorthanded: As often is the case during the waning days of the regular season, both teams were shorthanded. While the Heat were without Andrew Wiggins, Duncan Robinson and Nikola Jovic, among others, the Celtics sat Holiday, Porzingis and Horford.

“I feel like we’ve been doing the same thing,” Spoelstra said of mix-and-matchups and having to update scouting reports on the fly. “We’ve had a different lineup out there pretty frequently.

“We’re at a point of the season that who cares? We’re trying to take care of our business. We’re trying to play good basketball, do it consistently and prepare.”

The Heat did not offer an update Wednesday on Wiggins’ potential availability going forward.

— 5. Up next: Next up for the Heat is a three-game homestand that will go a long way toward determining their play-in seeding.

First it’s the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night, followed by the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night and Philadelphia 76ers on Monday.

As it is, the Memphis game will mark the second time this season the Heat have had to come home after a lengthy trip for the second game of a back-to-back set, having also done so against the 76ers in November.

“That doesn’t matter,” Spoelstra said. “We all have back to backs. We’re not afraid of those.”

Thursday concludes the Heat’s 15th and final back-to-back set of the season, with a 7-7 record on the second nights of such pairings.

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