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Heat-Bobcats Preview
Despite a sore foot, Miami's Dwyane Wade has knocked down game-winning baskets in the final seconds in back-to-back contests.
The Charlotte Bobcats have already found themselves on the wrong end of one of those shots.
Wade looks to lead the Heat to their second victory over the Bobcats in five days and help Miami open with five consecutive wins for the first time in franchise history in Sunday night's rematch at AmericanAirlines Arena.
After trailing for all of 14 seconds in victories over Dallas and Boston, the Heat (4-0) received their first real scare of the season in Charlotte on Wednesday. They fell behind 11-0 in the opening minutes and faced a 15-point halftime deficit before outscoring the Bobcats 24-10 in the third quarter to get back in the game.
A 3-pointer by Gerald Henderson with 12 seconds remaining in the fourth put Charlotte up by one, but Wade responded by banking a 10-footer over Henderson with 2.9 seconds left to lift the Heat to a 96-95 win, their sixth straight victory in the series. Wade, who finished with 10 points on 5-of-13 shooting, got the call to take the final shot despite sitting out almost the entire third quarter with a bruised foot.
The injury caused Wade to be a game-time decision for Friday's game in Minnesota, but the seven-time All-Star suited up and hit another game-winner. With the score tied, Wade converted an alley-oop layup off an inbounds pass from LeBron James with 4.6 seconds to play to give Miami a 103-101 victory.
"D-Wade, that's two game-winners back-to-back, right? Good for him," James said. "I like it."
While Wade's clutch baskets have helped the Heat match the 2004-05 club for the best start in franchise history, James is handling the largest share of the scoring. James finished with 34 points Friday on his 27th birthday after scoring 35 against the Bobcats. He has already reached the 34-point mark three times and is shooting 59.8 percent.
Chris Bosh also stepped up Wednesday, finishing with a season-high 25 points. He only grabbed six rebounds, as Charlotte had a 53-30 edge on the boards.
Although the Bobcats (1-2) had Miami on the ropes, they turned in a sluggish performance against Orlando on Friday night.
Charlotte wanted little to do with Magic center Dwight Howard on defense, settling mostly for jump shots. The Bobcats shot a season-low 36.1 percent and had only 20 points in the paint in a 100-79 loss.
Henderson and D.J. Augustin could not find their rhythm against Orlando. Henderson, who had a team-high 21 points against Miami, scored eight on 4-of-13 shooting Friday, while Augustin misfired on 8 of 11 shots and finished with 14 points after scoring 20 while shooting 7 of 11 on Wednesday.
"It didn't seem like we had energy," Charlotte coach Paul Silas said. "We weren't shooting the ball well. It's just one of those games where nothing was happening in our favor. At all."
This will be the first road game of the season for the Bobcats, who play five of their next six away from Charlotte. They've lost six of their last seven in Miami, where they are 3-11 all-time.
Miami Heat vs Charlotte Bobcats DECEMBER 28, 2011
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqqDr81NYco[/youtube]
