NBA Game Summary - Charlotte at Miami

03.24.2006

Miami, FL (Basketball News) - Dwyane Wade scored 24 points and added eight assists to lead the Miami Heat past Charlotte, 114-93, at American Airlines Arena.

Shaquille O’Neal had 22 points and nine rebounds for Miami, which snapped a modest two-game slide, but won for the 16th time in its last 19 games. Antoine Walker and Michael Doleac each tallied 14 off the bench in the victory.

"We can’t afford to lose three games in a row," Walker said. "We wanted to jump on them."

Raymond Felton had a team-high 23 points and Brevin Knight added 17 points and six assists for the Bobcats, who have lost six of their last seven overall.

Miami jumped out to a 33-28 advantage after one quarter of play, and continued to pull away from there.

"When we come to Miami, we need to just mail it in. We don’t even need to stop," said Charlotte head coach Bernie Bickerstaff.

The Heat scored the first six points of the second stanza to move ahead by nine, and extended their lead to 47-32 after Walker drained a running jumper.

Wade and O’Neal took over down the stretch, combining to score the last 15 points before halftime, to help Miami take a 64-48 advantage into the locker room.

Wade paced all scorers at the intermission with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while O’Neal added 16.

The lead continued to balloon in the second half, and O’Neal made it an 80-60 contest with 3:58 left in the third with a free throw. Wade converted a three- point play in the final minute and Walker followed with a bank shot to make it 92-68 heading into the fourth.

Miami cruised the rest of the way.

Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace left in the third quarter with a mouth contusion and did not return...Miami has won four straight and 13 of 14 at home...The Bobcats are 6-30 away from their friendly confines in Charlotte...Miami has won five in a row and seven of the last eight meetings with the Bobcats, who have dropped four straight in South Beach...Miami shot 57.7 percent from the floor.

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