Wade, Heat beat Bobcats 97-92 to reach playoffs

CHARLOTTE, N.C.(AP) A year ago, the Miami
Heat couldn't wait to finish a horrendous, injury-plagued season. Now
Dwyane Wade and his young teammates plan to be playing deep into the
spring thanks to one of the biggest turnarounds in NBA history.As
usual, Wade led the Heat's latest milestone, scoring 27 points and
dishing out 10 assists on Friday night as Miami clinched a playoff
berth with a 97-92 comeback victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.A
year after going 15-67, the Heat joined the 1968-69 San Diego Rockets -
a team that included Heat president Pat Riley - as the second NBA team
to reach the postseason after winning 15 or fewer games the year
before. The Rockets also recovered from a 15-67 disaster."It's a
huge accomplishment for this team,'' Wade said, "to come back after
that season and not really make huge, huge changes.''Wade, whose
injuries derailed last season, made three free throws in the final 19
seconds as the Heat recovered from an early 15-point deficit.
Charlotte's Raymond Felton then missed a tying 3-point attempt with 5
seconds left as the Bobcats suffered a damaging loss to their own
playoff hopes.The Bobcats, who lost guard Raja Bell to a right
calf injury in the third quarter, fell two games behind idle Chicago
for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference."We can't lose anymore at this point,'' Felton said. "Every game is a critical game. Six more, we've got to go 6-0.''Daequan
Cook, who added 16 points for Miami, hit the two clinching free throws
after Felton's miss. Michael Beasley, returning after twisting his
right ankle, scored 14 points and hit a jumper with 1:45 left that put
Miami ahead 90-87.The rookie then blocked D.J. Augustin's
driving layup at the other end, one of several miscues for Charlotte in
its second straight frustrating loss - and perhaps a costly one for its
rotation."Raja said his calf popped,'' Bobcats coach Larry Brown said. "So I imagine it's going to be a while.''The
Heat moved within one percentage point of Philadelphia for fifth place
in the Eastern Conference, a spot that would avoid a first-round
matchup with either Boston or Orlando.The only negative for
Miami was Udonis Haslem. The forward cut his right thumb on the
backboard defending Gerald Wallace's driving layup attempt late in the
third quarter. Haslem, who needed six stitches, was wearing a splint
after the game and hinted he could be out for a week or more."I definitely can't play with six stitches in my shooting hand,'' Haslem said.But
Haslem, who still has a bandage above his left eye after receiving
seven stitches in a game Monday, vowed to be ready for the postseason
after living through last season's nightmare."That just says a
lot about the guys that we're here last year who kind of came back with
a chip on their shoulders,'' Haslem said. "It says a lot about the
young guys who followed our lead.''Things were much more somber
in Charlotte's locker room. Like in their double-overtime loss to
Boston on Wednesday, the Bobcats were on the short end of the
free-throw count. The Heat had 24 attempts to Charlotte's 12, including
16-0 in the fourth quarter."It's very frustrating,'' said
Wallace, who led the Bobcats with 21 points. "You always look at the
last two minutes of the game, we don't get the calls. ... But when you
look back at it, it's always because of us. It's nothing the referees
are doing.''The Heat took an 88-83 lead with 3:05 left when Wade
scored five straight points. Felton then scored four in a row before
Beasley's jumper. Felton missed a driving layup attempt with about 30
seconds left and Charlotte trailing 92-89, setting up the first two of
Wade's clutch free throwsCharlotte, wearing green jerseys as
part of an NBA promotion to raise awareness for recycling, raced to a
24-9 lead by scoring easily in transition and pouncing on Miami's six
early turnovers. But the Heat rallied in the second quarter when the
Bobcats got sloppy, and Mario Chalmers' 3-pointer in the final second
made it 45-all at halftime.The Heat recovered to win on the road for only the fourth time in 16 games to celebrate a return to the postseason."It's
a big step for our franchise and for Pat Riley and (managing partner)
Micky Arison,'' first-year coach Erik Spoelstra said. "To put this team
together after last season, it's a big step. ... With that said, we
don't want to stop just with this.''Notes: A specialist
determined Heat G Luther Head won't need surgery on his broken left
hand, but will be fitted with a cast and will still miss 4-6 weeks. ...
With the Bobcats playing at Detroit on Sunday, ex-North Carolina
players Felton and Sean May, and Connecticut product Emeka Okafor were
planning to watch their old teams in the Final Four on Saturday night
at Ford Field. Brown, a Tar Heel alumnus who is also close to Villanova
coach Jay Wright, doesn't plan to watch that matchup in person. "That
would be a hard game for me to sit through,'' Brown said.