NEW YORK -- Massive injuries created the opening for Okaro White with the Miami Heat.

He capitalized on the opportunity and is entrusted enough to be on the floor in crucial late-game situations.

White rewarded the trust placed in him Wednesday night when he hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 58.6 seconds remaining as the Heat stormed back late in the fourth quarter and rallied for a 109-106 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.

"We've had so many injuries," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We needed to call somebody up. We felt very comfortable with him and we still feel comfortable with a couple of other guys that are in Sioux Falls but he's kept himself ready."

White signed with the Heat in the early days of free agency last July after spending the previous two seasons playing in Italy and Greece. He was among the last cuts in training camp and was averaging 18.4 points in 23 games for Sioux Falls of the NBA D-League when the Heat used their injury exception to sign him to a 10-day contract on Jan. 17.

"It's amazing how quick your life can change in a matter of days," White said of the whirlwind week.

Nine days later, White hit the biggest shot of his brief career when he knocked down a 3-pointer from the right corner near the Nets bench for a 102-101 lead. White was open on the play when Brook Lopez was late to close out and received the ball after Dion Waiters encountered multiple defenders about halfway through the paint.

"He had the trust and the faith that I would knock it down," White said. "He kicked it right to me. I just went right up into the shot."

The 24-year-old finished with 10 points and his first two NBA 3-pointers helped the Heat (16-30) get their season-high fifth straight victory. White's 3-pointer also helped complete a comeback from 18 points down -- Miami's second-biggest rally of the season.

"I'm happy for him," Heat center Hassan Whiteside said. "I'm happy for that guy. He came from the D-League. Our front office is very at finding talent. That was a big shot, especially for last game was his first NBA points. We really needed it. He made a lot of great plays that didn't show up in the boxscore."

Miami faced an 18-point deficit entering the fourth but gradually chipped away. The Heat cut it to single digits on a 3-pointer by Goran Dragic with 4:36 remaining and forged a 99-99 deadlock after Wayne Ellington hit an uncontested 3-pointer from the left corner with 2:17 remaining following a shot fake.

While White's shot was the game-winner, others had a hand in the comeback. Waiters scored 14 of his 24 points by making 6 of 7 shots in the fourth, including a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 6.8 seconds remaining after assisting on the shots by Ellington and White.

Ellington added 22, Dragic contributed 17 and nine assists while Willie Reed chipped in 14 when he was not shadowing Brook Lopez defensively.

Neutralizing Lopez down the stretch also keyed the comeback. Lopez set a career high with seven 3-pointers and led the Nets with 33 points but turned in contrasting halves.

"They made some great plays offensively," Lopez said. "They made some big shots down the stretch. I thought our energy was there. Our effort was there. They just made some good plays."

Lopez scored 26 by halftime when the Nets took a 66-55 lead. He started by making six of his first eight 3-pointers. He missed five of his next six and during the fourth missed all five shot attempts.

Lopez returned with 8:24 remaining with Miami's comeback in progress. He missed a 12-foot hook shot that would have put the Nets up 13 and a 3-pointer that would have given Brooklyn a 14-point lead with five minutes left.

As Miami kept charging, Lopez kept missing. Lopez missed an 18-footer with four minutes left that would have given the Nets a nine-point lead and then missed a 3-pointer nearly a minute later that would have pushed the lead to eight.

The final straw of the frustrating quarter for Lopez was getting his shot blocked by White with 3:04 left.

Lopez's quiet second half was part of the Nets losing for the 14th time in 15 games. In the fourth, the Nets shot 5 of 18, committed five turnovers and were outscored 38-17.

"We couldn't get stops," Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson said.

NOTES: G Tyler Johnson (strained left shoulder) underwent an MRI and the test confirmed his injury is nothing beyond a strain. Johnson missed his third straight game and will not play Friday in Chicago. ... Nets G Joe Harris (sprained left ankle) missed his third straight game. ... Miami C Hassan Whiteside was limited to 20:36 and did not play the fourth quarter. Whiteside said he told coach Erik Spoelstra he could not re-enter the game due to a sprained right ankle initially sustained Monday against Golden State.