Wade's 20, Chalmers' double-double lead Heat

Dwyane Wade shook off flu-like symptoms to score 22 points and regain the NBA scoring lead, rookie Mario Chalmers scored 16 and added a career-best 13 assists, and the Miami Heat held off the Charlotte Bobcats 96-92 Sunday night.

Daequan Cook added 16 points and Udonis Haslem scored 14 for Miami, which shot a season-best 56 percent and won for the second time in its last six games.

D.J. Augustin scored 27 points for Charlotte, which has lost five straight but never let the Heat take more than an eight-point lead in this one. Juwan Howard added 14, while Boris Diaw and Emeka Okafor each scored 10 for the Bobcats.

Raymond Felton hit a 3-pointer with 43.2 seconds left to get Charlotte within 93-89, but Wade emerged with an offensive rebound on the next Miami possession, and Haslem sealed it with two free throws. Until then, Miami was a mere 2-for-8 from the foul line.

With Wade ailing, he sat out the first 4 1/2 minutes of the final quarter, and returned with the Heat clinging to only a 76-74 lead.

He didn't have to win it by himself, though.

Cook made a pair of 3-pointers shortly after Wade came back, including one where he picked up a ball that had been knocked away from the 2006 finals MVP, collected himself at the top of the key and swished one for an 82-77 edge.

It stayed at least a two-possession game the rest of the way.

With a layup with 2:29 remaining for his 20th point, Wade reclaimed the NBA scoring lead from LeBron James, who was held to 16 earlier Sunday when Cleveland lost to the Los Angeles Lakers. Wade is now averaging 28.3 points per game, while James — who took over the top spot Saturday when Wade scored only 21 in a loss to Philadelphia — is at 28.2.

The Bobcats were without Vladimir Radmanovic, the forward acquired Saturday from the Los Angeles Lakers for Adam Morrison and Shannon Brown. Radmanovic was in Miami and hoping to play — coach Larry Brown even said the newest Bobcat was getting checked out by team doctors two hours before game time — but the Lakers didn't complete physicals for Morrison and Brown in time.

Either way, Charlotte had more than enough to give Miami a battle.

The Heat only scraped out a 43-39 lead by halftime, getting two stellar plays in the final minute. Wade stole the ball from Augustin and found Haslem for an alley-oop lob, then Chalmers coolly brought the ball upcourt as time was expiring and connected while getting knocked to the floor at the halftime horn.

The third quarter didn't provide much separation.

Augustin had 11 points in that period, including a 3-pointer tying the game at 47 with 7:40 left and drawing a fist pump from Bobcats' boss Michael Jordan — who was at the end of the Charlotte bench, sitting opposite the corner where Miami has his No. 23 retired.

Augustin hit another 3 for a 53-50 lead, before Miami closed the quarter on a 19-8 run.

Shortly after he began wearing a small bandage on his left cheek, Wade hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 55, then found Chalmers with a pass for another 3 that gave the Heat the lead. Chalmers finished with eight points and four assists in the third quarter alone, giving him his first career double-double with 13:01 left to play.

Notes:@ The Heat were 0-for-4 from the foul line in the first half, the eighth time in franchise history that's happened. Miami didn't get a free throw to drop until 7:27 remained in the third quarter, when Wade hit the second of two. ... Cook returned after missing three games with a bruised thigh. ... It was only the second 20-point game for Augustin since Dec. 16.