On January 13, the Miami Heat were an abysmal 11-30 and nowhere near the Eastern Conference playoff race. It seemed the once-proud squad was destined for a high lottery pick and a massive rebuilding process.However, they then rattled off an impressive 13-game winning streak (the longest winning streak by a sub-.500 team in NBA history) to improve to 24-30.In fact, since that loss on January 13, the Heat are an NBA-best 20-4 and now are just half a game behind the Milwaukee Bucks for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.Though there are many reasons Miami has been able to turn things around since mid-January, one of the biggest has been the clutch play of guard Dion Waiters.Once a castoff from star-studded teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder, Waiters is thriving in South Beach. In fact, when it comes down to the final two minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime, Waiters leads NBA stars like Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, James Harden, Isaiah Thomas and Kevin Durant in effective field goal percentage (which gives extra weight to three-pointers) according to Basketball Reference:

Waiters has hit nine of his 20 shot attempts (including six of his 12 threes) in those closing moments of games that are within five points. Even more impressive is that Waiters has only received one assist on those nine makes, meaning he's on an island creating his own shot more often than not.

Waiters has clearly come into his own now that he's no longer in the shadow of LeBron, Westbrook or Durant. The Heat, with players like Goran Dragic and Hassan Whiteside in the mix, can beat teams a number of different ways.

But, when the game is on the line, it's a safe bet that the ball will find its way to Waiters' hands, where he'll try to make something happen. The emerging star is averaging 15.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game this season and is shooting a career-high 39.3 percent from behind the arc.

With six teams (Indiana, Milwaukee, Detroit, Miami, Charlotte and Chicago) all within four games of one another for the final three playoff spots in the Eastern Conference, every game down the stretch will be important. The Heat have one game remaining against Indiana, Detroit and Charlotte, all of which will be must-win contests if they want to lock down a playoff slot.

Fortunately for the Heat, they have a player who thrives in such situations and is never afraid to have the ball in his hands with the game on the line.