Heat 99, Bobcats 94: LeBron James collected 31 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and Chris Bosh scored 23 points as host Miami survived a scare to beat Charlotte for the ninth straight time.

Dwyane Wade added 20 points and a season-high 12 rebounds for the Heat, who have won four straight and nine of 10 at home and improved to 19-3 at American Airlines Arena.

Ramon Sessions scored 18 points and fellow reserve Ben Gordon added 16 for the Bobcats, who have lost the first four contests of a five-game road trip. Charlotte has dropped seven of eight and 31 of 35 and has the worst record in the league.

The Bobcats kept it close throughout despite being without rookie forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (concussion) and losing leading scorer Kemba Walker to foul trouble for most of the second half. Walker was called for a charge for his fourth foul just 44 seconds into the third quarter and didn't return until the 6:43 mark of the fourth.

Charlotte reeled off a 9-0 run to take a 72-69 lead on Gordon's 3-pointer with 8:51 left, but the Heat's veteran leaders took over down the stretch. Miami took the lead for good with a 10-0 spurt punctuated by James' dunk on an alley-oop from Norris Cole to make it 83-74 with five minutes left. The Bobcats got back within 89-87 and seemed to have a chance to tie or take the lead when Byron Mullens pulled down a rebound, but a Bosh steal and dunk set off a 6-0 spurt to help the Heat put it away.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Mullens returned after missing 19 games with a sprained left ankle. He collected 12 points and nine rebounds in 28 minutes. … James, who is four points shy of 5,000 with the Heat, has scored in double figures in 464 consecutive games, including all 186 he has played for Miami. … Walker finished with 11 points in 22 minutes, extending his career-best streak of consecutive games scoring in double figures to 18.