Mar 12, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Miami Heat guard Josh Richardson (0) dribbles the ball up court during the first quarter in a game against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. The Toronto Raptors won 112-104. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Heat’s days of 3-point shooting trouble are now a thing of the past, as guys like Joe Johnson and Josh Richardson have stepped up.

When it came to 3-point shooting earlier this season, the Miami Heat were not exactly known for their success rate. In fact, at one point, they were the third worst 3-point shooting team in the league. But now, that is all a thing of the past.

And just in time too. With the Heat continuing to make their playoff push, coming up strong from beyond-the-arc will only help their game.

As of Wednesday, Miami sits in third place in the Eastern Conference, coming off of a loss against the San Antonio Spurs. The 2014 Finals rematch ended 112-88, bringing the Heat’s record to 41-30.

But such a loss has not been the norm for the organization, as of late.

As a team, the boys in South Beach have brought their 3-point shooting percentage up to the third best in the NBA. And their percentage for this month alone, tops the league. So what happened? How did Miami turn things around, in only a couple of months?

The first answer can be found within a brilliant move made by none other than Heat president Pat Riley.

Last month, Riley signed 34-year-old Joe Johnson, who had just been waived by the Brooklyn Nets. And while some had already cast him aside, calling him washed up and urging him to retire, all in all Heat Nation seemed pretty riled up over their newly acquired veteran. The good news of course being that so far, Johnson has gone above and beyond just proving himself: he has thrived.

Over his 15-year career, Johnson is a 37.3 percent 3-point shooter.

Currently, his numbers sit at 15.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.3 assist per game, while shooting 55.6 percent, and most notably 56.1 percent from the 3-point line. In fact, good old ISO Joe has made more 3-pointers than guys like Kobe Bryant.

Then there is rookie Josh Richardson, who had a solid Summer League debut but was quiet for the majority of the season…until now.

The 22-year-old is anything but lately, causing quite a stir in the media. Drafted No. 40 overall by Miami, this month the guard is averaging 12.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists a matchup, on 56.3 percent shooting. He is also going 61.5 percent from beyond-the-arc, a skill that Richardson is bent on perfecting.

According to head coach Erik Spoelstra, everything changed for Richardson on an off-day in December. After finding out that Richardson was ready to call it a day after making less than 100 3-point attempts. It was then that they established a routine of not leaving the court until at least 70 shots went through the net; a routine that is still going strong.

Of course, it does not hurt that Goran Dragic has also finally found his rhythm. Having struggled a bit at the start of the year, Dragic has certainly stepped it up, much in part due to the fact that the Heat are finally playing to his strengths.

This month, Dragic is averaging 17.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 7.9 assists per night. And while his 3-point game is not as impressive as say Johnson’s and Richardson’s, he is still a 35.6 percent career 3-point shooter.

The craziest part is that the team is not actually shooting more 3-pointers.

“We’re not designing things to hunt for those shots,” explained Spoelstra. “That pace and spacing was just as important when we were 0 for 9 from three at Charlotte. It’s still the same game as you saw [against the Cleveland Cavaliers] when we made 11 threes. Us making or taking a lot of threes is not something I’m counting on at all. It’s about getting to our spots, sacrificing for the ball.”

But, according to Dwyane Wade, they are playing at a faster tempo, making it easier to get everyone open, period.

“Joe and Josh knocking down threes spreads the floor, opens up threes for other guys as well that they weren’t getting before. It’s the cool thing about sports. You never know what’s going to happen. No one predicted our team would be shooting the three-ball as good as it is or that the floor would be as spread or as open as it is.”

Miami has 11 more games to play, before the playoffs begin. And fortunately, as their remaining opponents consist of the Orlando Magic, Sacramento Kings and the Orlando Magic, it should be smooth sailing ahead.