HEAT 105, BOBCATS 82: LeBron James had 19 points, Chris Bosh had 18 and Dexter Pittman added a career-high 16 as short-handed Miami handed visiting Charlotte its 15th consecutive loss.

Miami guard Dwyane Wade sat out with a sprained right ankle. Forwards Mike Miller (ankle) and Udonis Haslem (stomach virus) also sat out.

Their absence mattered little as the Heat (41-17) improved to 11-1 without Wade.

Charlotte (7-51) is one loss from tying its franchise-record losing streak of 16 straight set Jan. 16-Feb. 15. Its last victory was 107-103 over Toronto on March 17.

If the Bobcats lose their last eight games, they will set an NBA record for futility (.106). The lowest winning percentage in history is Philadelphia at .110 (9-73) in 1972-73.

Derrick Brown had 21 points and nine rebounds for the Bobcats, who have lost eight in a row to Miami. Gerald Henderson scored 14.

The Heat took a 33-19 lead after the first quarter, increased it to 58-39 at halftime and were virtually unchallenged the rest of the way.

Miami was just 2 of 14 on 3-pointers. Charlotte made 5 of 17.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Haslem missed his first game of the year. ... Miami coach Eric Spoelstra said the absence of Wade and Miller should be short-lived. β€œIt's more of a maintenance program for the two of them,” Spoelstra said. β€œBoth are a little bit sore coming off (Thursday) night. A little bit too quick of a turnaround for them and hopefully both of them will be ready to go for Sunday (at New York).” … Charlotte reserve D.J. White left in the third quarter after getting hit in the head by an inadvertent elbow and did not return.