Los Angeles  - Dwyane Wade was good until the very last drop.

Wade poured in 41 points, including the game-sealing free throws with 6.1 seconds, carrying the Miami Heat to its season-high fourth straight victory, 100-96 over the pesky Charlotte Bobcats on Monday night.

"It's winning time," Wade said. "This is a good Charlotte Bobcats team. They're just like us, they play until the very end."

Wade entered the home contest with a league-best 28.4 scoring average and padded it, with his 14th career game of 40 or more points, including three this season.

Mario Chalmers scored 15 points and Shawn Marion added 13 for Miami (12-9) which matched its longest streak since March 2006.

Jason Richardson tossed in 24 points while Emeka Okafor had 19 with 12 rebounds for Charlotte (7-14) which without its third leading scorer, Gerald Wallace
(grandmother's death) dropped its third in a row.

D. J. Augustin and Adam Morrison chipped in with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

"We played well enough to win," Bobcats coach Larry Brown said. "We missed a layup, some free throws, tough things happened. But Wade was great. He's playing at such a high level."

Miami trailed by nine midway through the final quarter, but Marion hit a short jumper and Wade made the second of two free throws to cap a 21-10 run, putting the Heat ahead for good, 93-91 with 40 seconds left.

With a chance to knot the game, Richardson missed two free throws, and Diawara Yakhouba made both of his at the other end with 29 seconds left for a four-point advantage. Charlotte's Raymond Felton hit two from the stripe and Miami's Udonis Haslem split a pair for a 96-93 lead.

The Bobcats had an opportunity to pull within one, but Augustin's wide-open layup rolled off the rim, and Haslem knocked down two free throws, extending to 98-93.

Following a timeout, Morrison drilled a 3-pointer with 6.7 seconds remaining, making it 98-96. However, Wade calmly sank both free throws, and grabbed Augustine's short three-point try to end the game.

"Of course, Dwyane carried us offensively tonight, but what I was really encouraged by was at the end of the game," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "It was one of those games where we had to really buckle down and get some stops to be able to win it. We won this game defensively."

Elsewhere:

Memphis Grizzlies 109, Houston Rockets 97: Rudy Gay scored 20 points, Hakim Warrick and O. J. Mayo added 18 apiece, as the Grizzlies never trailed to beat the short-handed Rockets, for only their third victory in the last 15 games.

Argentina's Luis Scola collected 16 points with 15 rebounds, while Rafer Alston had 16 points and eight assists for the Rockets (13-8) who without injured starters Tracy McGrady (sore left knee) and Ron Artest (sore ankle) dropped into a tie with idle New Orleans atop the Southwest Division standings.

China's Yao Ming, coming off a 33-point, 14-rebound effort on Friday, was held to just 14 points and four rebounds.

Golden State Warriors 112, Oklahoma City Thunder 102: Jamal Crawford scored 19 points, Latvian centre Andris Biedrins had 17 with 21 rebounds, and the slumping Warriors stopped their nine-game losing streak, despite a sparkling 41-point effort by Kevin Durant.

Brandon Wright and Anthony Morrow had 15 points apiece for visiting Golden State (6-15) which placed seven in double figures to overcome the absence of its two injured top scorers, Stephen Jackson and Corey Maggette.

Durant scored 19 fourth-quarter points, including consecutive 3-pointers to cut a 21-point deficit to 105-102 with 32 seconds left. But Morrow made five consecutive free throws, and Crawford added the final two in a 7-0 closing run, sending the league-worst Thunder (2-20) to its fourth straight loss.

Orlando Magic 95, LA Clippers 88 Dwight Howard celebrated his 23rd birthday with 23 points, 22 rebounds and six blocks, and the Magic opened the fourth quarter on a decisive 22-2 run to rally past the lowly Clippers.

It marked the third time this season that the All-Star centre has had 20/20 games.

Rashard Lewis scored 18 points and Jameer Nelson added 15 as Southwest Division-leading Orlando (16-5) opened its season-long five-game road trip with its seventh win in the last eight games.

Baron Davis scored 27 points and Zach Randolph had 21 with 12 rebounds for the Clippers (4-17) who were outscored 29-13 in the final frame. (dpa)