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Heat welcome Bobcats to south Florida

Apr 8, 2011 - 3:14 PM (Sports Network) - The Miami Heat will resume their chase for the second seed in the Eastern Conference when they welcome the stumbling Charlotte Bobcats to South Beach.

The Southeast Division champion Heat took a step back Wednesday when John Salmons scored 17 points and Luc Mbah a Moute added 14 and 12 rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks topped Miami, 90-85, at American Airlines Arena.

LeBron James paced the Heat with a game-high 29 points and became the youngest player in NBA history with at least 2,000 points in seven straight years.

Chris Bosh added 18 points with seven rebounds but Miami had a three-game winning streak snapped while playing without Dwyane Wade, who missed the game with a deep right thigh bruise he suffered on Sunday.

"We really had to work for open looks. Execution wasn't where it could be," Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said.

With the loss, the Heat fell a half-game behind the idle Boston Celtics for the No. 2 spot in the East but quickly regained equal footing when top- seeded Chicago routed Boston on Thursday. Miami and the Celtics play on Sunday in a game that very well could decide the second seed and home-court advantage in a possible East semifinals matchup between the two heavyweights.

Wade, the NBA's third-leading scorer at 25.7 points per game, is listed as questionable for tonight's contest and the Heat could err on the side of caution in an effort to get the 2006 NBA Finals MVP ready for Sunday.

James, meanwhile, locked up his latest milestone with 2:12 remaining in the first quarter against the Bucks when he made a pair from the free throw line, pushing his season scoring total to the 2,000 mark. James, the reigning two- time MVP, became just the eighth player in NBA history to accomplish the feat and the youngest at age 26.

Every other player scoring 2,000 points in seven different seasons -- Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, Alex English, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone and Dominique Wilkins -- is already in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

The Bobcats, meanwhile, were knocked from playoff contention on Wednesday when Gilbert Arenas finished with 25 points, hitting 6-of-11 from three-point range, as the Orlando Magic won their 50th game of the season, topping Charlotte 111-102 in overtime.

Gerald Henderson scored a career-high 32 points for Charlotte but it was not enough to keep the Bobcats' hopes of a playoff berth alive. Their loss, along with the Indiana Pacers' victory over Washington, officially eliminated them from contention.

"We played well tonight, we just didn't play that well in overtime," Henderson said.

Dante Cunningham scored 16 with 10 rebounds in the loss, while Boris Diaw finished with 17 points with seven assists for Charlotte, which has lost four straight games without leading scorer Stephen Jackson (sore left hamstring).

Jackson was originally set to return Wednesday against Orlando but told coach Paul Silas in warmups he couldn't go. The veteran will be a game-time decision tonight.

Miami has won four consecutive games against the Bobcats, including all three meetings this season.