Heat 89, Bobcats 79
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Ray Allen were all missing with injuries, but the Miami Heat still cruised to an 89-79 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Friday night.
Mike Miller scored 26 points and Chris Bosh added 18 as the Heat raised their record to a league-best 59-16 and completed a season's sweep over the Bobcats.
Miami led just 48-45 at halftime, but pushed the lead to 13 after three quarters and then led by as many as 15 in the fourth. The Heat held the Bobcats to just eight points in the third quarter on 3-of-18 shooting from the field.
Miller's 26 points included seven 3-pointers, on a night when the Heat were a combined 13-of-33 from beyond the arc. That helped offset 21 Miami turnovers.
The Bobcats fell to a league-worst 18-58 and wound up shooting just 31.8 percent from the field. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist led the Bobcats with 18 points and 14 rebounds, but the guard combo of Kemba Walker and Gerald Henderson went a combined 5-of-31 from the field. Walker finished with 12 points, Henderson 11.
Rashard Lewis was the only other Miami player in double figures with 14.
Notes: James missed his third straight game because of a strained right hamstring. Wade missed his third straight game because of a sprained right ankle, and Allen sat with a sprained right ankle. Mario Chalmers had missed the previous three games with a sprained right ankle. ... The Bobcats were also short-handed, missing Ramon Sessions with a sprained left knee, Brendan Haywood with a stress reaction in his left foot and Byron Mullens with left ankle soreness. ... The Heat had won all three previous meetings this season, most recently 109-77 in Miami on March 24. Miami had won 11 straight in the series. ... The Heat have already clinched the top Eastern Conference seed in the playoffs. ... The Bobcats have already won 11 more games than last season, which is the largest season-over-season win increase in franchise history and the third-largest in the NBA this season behind Brooklyn (21) and Golden State (20). ... After losing 16 straight home games earlier in the season, the Bobcats had won five of their previous six at Time Warner Cable Arena going into Friday's game. ... The Bobcats will now head out on a three-game road trip, starting Saturday at Brooklyn. They'll also play at Memphis and Detroit on the trip. ... The Heat will return home to face Philadelphia on Saturday.
