• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Wallace, Bobcats cruise past Heat

Apr 11, 2007 - 3:53 AM CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Gerald Wallace and the Charlotte Bobcats have become a thorn in the side of the Miami Heat.

Wallace scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Bobcats beat the Heat for the second consecutive time, 92-82.

Walter Herrmann had 20 points and Derek Anderson added 17 off the bench for Charlotte, which beat Miami, 111-103, in overtime on Sunday. The Bobcats (32-47) have won five of their last six.

"The team is playing well," Wallace said. "Everybody came in tonight and did a great job. We were able to, from the start, take them out of what they wanted to do."

Wallace, who has averaged 26.5 points and 10.1 rebounds in his last eight contests, connected on 8-of-11 from the floor for Charlotte, which led by six after the first quarter, 12 at halftime and 19 at the end of three.

"I think we're playing exceptionally well," Bobcats coach Bernie Bickerstaff said. "With our full compliment, I think we could have made a legitimate run at one of those playoff spots."

Herrmann, who has averaged 18.8 points since being inserted into the starting lineup nine games ago, was 3-of-7 from 3-point range for the Bobcats, who shot 44 percent (34-of-78).

"Walter Herrmann stepped up, and other guys stepped up, and that's a tribute to Bernie Bickerstaff," Anderson said.

"Charlotte pretty much dominated tonight," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "They played extremely well, especially with their ball movement and we really didn't have an answer for a lot of their offensive situations."

Antoine Walker scored 17 points and hauled in nine rebounds and Dwyane Wade, who was starting his first game since returning from a shoulder injury on Sunday, added 14 points for Miami (42-36), which remains 2 1/2 games ahead of the Washington Wizards (39-39) for the lead in the Southeast Division.

"I feel like I'm making progress," said Wade, who played only 21 minutes and connected on 6-of-12 shots. "I feel like I'm slowly getting my moves back. Coach monitored my minutes tonight. That's something that we talked about before the game."

The Wizards lost to the New Jersey Nets, 96-92, on Tuesday.

Miami also shot 44 percent (30-of-68) and played without the services of Shaquille O'Neal, who was attending the funeral of his grandfather in New Jersey. Power forward Udonis Haslem also did not play, snapping a streak of 111 straight games played, due to a groin injury.

"We just need to concentrate on getting healthy and focusing on the things that we need to do down the stretch as a team," Wade said.

James Posey, who was arrested for drunken driven after the loss to Charlotte on Sunday, played 26 1/2 minutes and scored 5 points while grabbing five boards.

"We just didn't play well as a team and as far as it effecting me, the charge doesn't and it didn't effect me," Posey said. "I went out there and played hard."