About the time Boston fans began leaving quietly into the night with less than a minute left, the small smile of accomplishment began flickering on Miami Heat players. Tyler Herro, at the free-throw-line, offered a quick grin to Bam Adebayo, who offered one back before finishing their night’s work.

Caleb Martin, as the clock ticked toward zero, smiled at Jaime Jaquez Jr., before walking off the court by the stone faces of Boston Celtic players and the stunned looks of their fans.

What had they done in pulling off a 111-101 win in Game 2 of their playoff series? Was this a one-off kind of wonderful night that reversed a 20-point loss in Game 1 and rewarded their resolve?

Or was it a step toward something more surprising? Erik Spoelstra stood amid his players in the locker room afterward, as shown on TNT, and amid the talk of a “very productive” game and caution to rest up for Saturday’s Game 3 in Miami planted the seed of something more.

“We understand, you know, that this is still a long series,’’ he said.

No one outside the Heat expected a long series with Jimmy Butler (and Terry Rozier) out. No one really thinks an injured, eighth-seeded Heat can pull off what would be the biggest playoff upset in NBA history by beating top-seeded Boston over a seven-game series. It would be the greatest story ever dribbled.

The Heat start a rookie, a 20-year-old, an undrafted veteran who was out of a job when the Heat signed him and two mid-level, first-round picks who have three All-Star appearances combined (all three by Adebayo). Four of Boston’s five starters have played in multiple All-Star games.

If this was a pickup game at the park, Boston would have three of the first four picks (Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis vs. Adebayo). You can make a sensible case that Boston is better in every area than the Heat except, strikingly, the coaching. This was the latest night that told you everything about Spoelstra.

“I’m going to give Coach Spo a lot of credit for giving those guys the confidence that they can win,’’ TNT’s Kenny Smith said.

Start there in explaining Game 2. The young Heat were run off the court from the start of Game 1 and lost by 20 points. So, Spoelstra not only had to emotionally help his players regroup but strategically give them something to believe in.

He did both by insisting they take the 3-point shots Boston was leaving open to them. “Take them and keep taking them,’’ as he said. And as TNT’s Smith said, “What player doesn’t like a coach to have confidence in you and tell you to take shots?”

The Heat shot more 3-pointers (43) than regular field goals (32) in Game 2. They made a playoff-record 23 from distance, a staggering 53.5%, that was more than the 43.6% on 2-pointers.

Somehow, the shots didn’t seem forced at all. Somehow, Boston coach Joe Mazzulla never adjusted his defense to conjure memories of last spring’s series upset. Seven Heat players made at last one from distance, led by Caleb Martin’s 5 of 6. Every starter scored in double digits, even the 20-year-old, Nikola Jovic, who had 11 points and nine rebounds.

The Heat pitched a perfect game Wednesday in that regard. They got help from everyone, everywhere. Spoelstra had Herro run the offense much of the night and he answered with 24 points and 14 assists. Adebayo hit shot after shot when Boston tried to draw close in the fourth quarter, and he finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

In so doing, Herro and Adebayo took a good step in answering some nagging questions about their games. Next question: Can they do that again? And again? And again to take this series? And aren’t we asking a bit much at this point?

Boston has the health advantage, the 64-win team advantage, the nine-point favorite advantage again for Game 3, the All-Star-talent advantage and you’d think the motivational advantage of the Heat having stolen their season last year in Game 7. Or maybe that last one is something else?

Has last year (and winning two of three playoff series against Boston) planted the seed of doubt in Celtic players’ minds? Or maybe the Celtics are just in their own heads?

Tatum is Exhibit A. He’s the best player on the court, but felt the need to flop in an off-the-ball bump with the Heat’s Duncan Robinson in the third quarter. He got that call, but didn’t a couple of others and soon had lost the composure that defines great players in big games.

Tatum scored 28 points in Game 2. Sidekick Brown had 33. But they combined for an insignificant nine points in the fourth quarter in a way that harkened back to their late-game struggles last spring. Porzingis, their big offseason addition, was 1-of-9 shooting.

A bad night at the office for Boston? Or did the Heat unmask a front-running fraud?

“Especially with that team, it’s never going to go how people expect it to go,’’ Tatum said afterward of the Heat.

Sounds like the scars of last season haven’t healed. Wouldn’t you have loved to see Butler in the mix of this series to press this Heat’s chances? Or at least Rozier?

What a new Wednesday was. What a game. It’s still a long way from being the long series Spoelstra talked to his team about afterward.

“You don’t realize the Heat culture they have there,’’ Shaquille O’Neal said on TNT.

Game 2 was a win for Heat culture, a testament to Spoelstra’s ways and the kind of surprise that’s the best part of sports. Is the fantasy of the greatest upset in NBA history now a possibility?

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