Boxscore | Play-By-Play

MIAMI – The Bobcats produced part of what they came to Miami to do, finding some of the energy they lacked Friday night by getting a boost from the youngsters off their bench. They had no immediate cure for another ailing part of their game, however, as they fell behind early and dropped a 108-99 game to the Heat Saturday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.

It was the Bobcats’ fourth consecutive loss after a 2-1 start to the NBA regular season.

Head Coach Bernie Bickerstaff, disappointed in what he considered insufficient energy in the immediate aftermath of a Friday home-court loss to the Dallas Mavericks, had hoped the Bobcats would respond Saturday with more fire as they returned to the road after a four-game set in Charlotte.

Shortly before sending his team onto the floor against the Heat, Bickerstaff, given time to reflect, had softened his views but was still looking for the type of energy they displayed in going 1-1 in their previous away games.

“We’re doing so many good things,” Bickerstaff said. “I think we’ll be better shooters. And sometimes the more you talk about it, the worse it gets. This basketball team is doing all the things you want a team to do. They are forcing turnovers, getting offensive rebounds, limiting their own turnovers. But to take advantage of all that, you’ve got to shoot. The problem we’ve got is putting the ball in the basket. We’ve got no other problems.

“We just don’t have that one guy who, when things are bad, you can just throw the basketball to him and he can do something with it.”

Bickerstaff became something of a prophet, no matter how much he wished otherwise, as the Bobcats fell behind by as many as 28 points in the fourth quarter. It didn’t help matters that the Bobcats were again missing starting forward Gerald Wallace (right wrist injury) and reserve Jumaine Jones (in Los Angeles for the birth of his second child).

Still, the Bobcats kept attacking and created a rousing finish. It was not enough, given the size of the deficit and the limited remaining time, but it forced the Heat to scramble.

The rally unfolded during a matchup of reserves with some of Charlotte’s youngest players (Sean May, Raymond Felton, Bernard Robinson, Alan Anderson and Kevin Burleson) and one veteran who missed time with an injury (Jake Voskuhl) getting valuable minutes.

The Bobcats started pressing and did so effectively enough to chop away big chunks of the lead, twice getting it from 28 down to seven in the final minute. At one such stage, with 30 seconds left, Miami Head Coach Stan Van Gundy responded by bringing in several Heat regulars to choke off the rally and close out the game.

Charlotte’s 59.1 percent shooting accuracy in the fourth period left the team with an overall 39.1 percent mark for the game. Miami shot 56.8 percent.

“It was good for them,” Bickerstaff said of his reserves. “It just shows you, you never surrender. That’s what you want to do – you have a blowout loss and you get something out of it.”

May scored a career-high 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor and 8-of-9 from the line and also contributed five rebounds, five assists and five steals. Kareem Rush had 18, while Kevin Burleson and Primoz Brezec added 11 apiece.

The Heat, more experienced and deeper in talent despite the injury-forced absence of star center Shaquille O’Neal, jumped ahead by slim margins in the opening minutes. Charlotte trailed by only three, 16-13, midway through the first quarter but was showing signs that would soon point to problems.

At that stage, the Bobcats were shooting 5-of-13 from the field and were being beaten on the boards by an 8-3 margin. Miami began easing a little farther ahead, extending the lead to five, then ripped off six unanswered points on its way to a 12-point advantage, 35-23, with 0:38 left in the period.

Charlotte trailed by eight, 35-27, at the end of the quarter. The shooting statistics backed up Bickerstaff’s earlier concern - the Heat hit 61.9 percent from the field, the Bobcats 36.0 percent. Miami dominated the boards 19-6.

Center Alonzo Mourning, usually O’Neal’s backup, hit 4-of-5 shots and scored 10 in the period, matching guard Jason Williams’ total, and helped the Heat establish that control.

The Bobcats weren’t ready to cave in, however. After scoring the last four points of the opening quarter on May’s pair of free throws and fast break dunk, they kept fighting back early in the second.

They trimmed the lead to three, 35-32, on a three-pointer by Rush with 11:28 remaining in the second. But just as abruptly as the rally began, it lost steam as the Heat charged back.

Antoine Walker came off the bench to hit two three-pointers that helped Miami get moving again. Overall the Heat scored 14 of the game’s next 17 points and led by 14 with 6:33 remaining, with the Bobcats struggling to find the basket. In a nine-minute stretch, beginning immediately after the Rush shot that cut Miami’s lead to three, Charlotte missed nine of its next 10 field goal attempts.

Miami’s margin surged to a first-half high of 18 late in the period, and the Heat led by 14, 57-43, at halftime. The Bobcats found some early bright spots, most notably the overall play of May and the scoring of Rush. But the difference was in the shooting with Charlotte hitting 30.2 percent in the half and Miami 56.4 percent.

The script changed little until the very end. The Heat extended the lead to a game-high 28 points on three occasions near the midway point of the fourth.

Jason Williams led Miami with 22 points. Wade scored 19 and Mourning 16.

NOTES: Led by a career- and game-high 18 points from rookie Sean May, the Bobcats bench outscored Miami's bench, 58-31. Charlotte's bench has outscore its opponents in five out of seven games this season... After opening the season with seven games in 11 days, the Bobcats will get their first break of more than one day between games on Sunday and Monday. Their next contest is on Tuesday in Orlando... Of the Bobcats first seven games, six were against playoff teams from 2005. Charlotte's last three opponents were the NBA Champions (San Antonio), a Western Conference semi-finalist (Dallas) and an Eastern Conference finalist (Miami) last season... Playing in his first NBA game, rookie Alan Anderson scored eight points and had four rebounds for the Bobcats... Rookie Kevin Burleson also saw his first extensive action for Charlotte, scoring 11 points while going 3-4 from three-point range... Melvin Ely missed his first game of the season with a left shin injury... Jumaine Jones is the proud father of a beautiful baby girl born on Friday night. She weighed in at seven pounds, 10 ounces... The Heat's Jason Kapono scored nine points in his first game against his old team.