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Jackson, Augustin carry Bobcats past Heat 107-97

Jan 3, 2010 - 12:14 AM By TIM REYNOLDS AP Sports Writer

MIAMI(AP) -- Stephen Jackson knew Dwyane Wade wasn't going to be stopped in the fourth quarter. So he and the Charlotte Bobcats decided to see if they could slow Wade's teammates instead.

A risky move, but it worked wonders.

Jackson scored 13 of his season-high 35 points in the fourth quarter, D.J. Augustin added all 13 of his in the final 11 minutes and the Bobcats won a road game for just the second time this season, overcoming an early 19-point deficit to beat the Miami Heat 107-97 on Saturday.

Charlotte shot a staggering 85 percent - 11 of 13 - in the final 8 1/2 minutes. Take away Wade's 15-point effort in the fourth quarter, and the rest of the Heat shot just 4 of 13 for 10 points in crunch time.

"For the most part we made him shoot jump shots," Jackson said. "And nobody else could really beat us."

The way the Bobcats were shooting, it might not have mattered.

Augustin and Jackson combined to make 6 of 7 tries from 3-point range in the fourth quarter, and when Jackson beat the shot clock for a straightaway 3 with 7:03 remaining, Charlotte was ahead for good.

"He had to guard Dwyane a lot, which is an unbelievable challenge," Charlotte coach Larry Brown said. "He shot the ball great and got to the free throw line. He's playing good."

Wade finished with 29 points and 11 assists for Miami, which dropped its third straight and hosts Atlanta and Boston before playing 20 of its next 27 games away from home.

Quentin Richardson scored 20 for Miami, which got 14 from Michael Beasley and a 13-point, 10-rebound effort from Udonis Haslem.

"When you give a team a chance to come back in a game and get their confidence going, it's going to be a dogfight from there," Wade said. "We came into the game knowing it was going to be a battle back and forth. We had some early success and it just went south."

He was talking about the game. The Heat season has followed a similar path.

A 6-1 start is long forgotten, and entering perhaps the most make-or-break stretch of the season, the Heat are sputtering.

"We're going into the part of the schedule where we need each other the most," Beasley said. "If we panic, if we get apart, it's not going to be pretty the month of January."

Gerald Wallace scored 15 for Charlotte.

Wade hit a 3-pointer with 7:33 left, raising three fingers to the crowd, and giving Miami an 83-81 lead. That was essentially the last hurrah for the Heat, as Jackson answered on the next Charlotte possession with a 3-pointer of his own, the one that brought the game's 17th and final lead change.

Augustin hit a 3-pointer three minutes later for a five-point lead, and Charlotte held on, dealing Miami - coming off a 30-point loss in San Antonio - one of its most frustrating losses of the season.

"We managed to hold down a pretty good team over there," Augustin said.

The beginning of the game never would have suggested that was possible. The Heat opened the first half sizzling, then went into intermission steaming.

Miami made its first six shots for a quick 14-4 lead, and when Beasley elevated over Boris Diaw to slam a missed 3-pointer by Richardson - maybe the most spectacular finish of the second-year forward's career - the Heat lead was 13, then ballooned to as much as 29-10 later in the opening quarter.

And then Charlotte woke up.

The Bobcats were 0-14 this season in road games where they had trailed; their lone win away from Charlotte coming in a wire-to-wire triumph at Washington on Nov. 28. A 32-16 second quarter gave Charlotte the lead, and the Heat were never in control again.

"All we can do is, every day, come back and hopefully get it," Wade said. "It's frustrating, playing good for four or five, then not good for four or five. That's not what you want to do, but there isn't much else you can do besides show up every day and try to get it right."

NOTES: Wade had seven assists in the third quarter alone. ... Heat point guard Mario Chalmers played in his 113th straight game, tying the eighth-longest streak in team history. ... It was the first of four meetings between the divisional rivals this season.