Updated

LeBron James had 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists and the Heat cruised past the lowly Bobcats, 105-82, on Friday.

The Heat were coming off of Thursday's overtime loss to Chicago. They were without Dwyane Wade (ankle) against Charlotte, but got 18 points from Chris Bosh and 16 from Dexter Pittman to pull within 3 1/2 games of the idle Bulls for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Derrick Brown had 21 points and nine rebounds for the Bobcats, losers of 15 in a row. They are the only team in the NBA with single-digit victories (7-51).